National Judicial Committee meeting kicks off in Quetta

The Baloch Hal News

QUETTA: A meeting of the National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee (NJPMC) was held at High Court of Balochistan Quetta on Friday under the Chairmanship of Mr. Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Chief Justice of Pakistan/Chairman National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee on 11^th June, 2010.

The meeting was attended by Mr. Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif, Chief Justice, Lahore High Court; Mr. Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Chief Justice, High Court of Sindh; Mr. Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Chief Justice, High Court of Balochistan, Mr. Justice, Ejaz Afzal Khan, Chief Justice, Peshawar High Court and Dr. Faqir Hussain, Registrar/Secretary, Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan/NJPMC.

The objective of holding the meeting was to review the one year performance of superior and District Judiciary after implementation of National Judicial Policy, 2009. In his introductory remarks, the Hon’ble Chief Justice appreciated the performance/efforts made by the superior as well as District Judiciary to meet the targets set forth in the Policy. He further stated that it all happened due to active role of Judicial Officers and valuable contribution rendered by the members of the Bar. The Hon’ble Chief Justice shown his satisfaction on the rate of disposal of cases and stated that the increasing trend of litigation reflects that the people are showing their confidence in the judiciary for settlement of their disputes through courts.

As regard missing persons, the Chief Justice stated that the matter is already pending before the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the Government of Pakistan has constituted a Commission to identify the missing persons. He added that the Prime Minister of Pakistan has consulted him in setting of Commission and on his recommendation a former Judge of the High Court of Balochistan was appointed its member, because the issue of missing persons is crucial issue for the people of Balochistan. He further stated that the Commission held its meeting at Quetta in recent past to provide opportunity to the families of missing persons to approach the Commission for recovery of their missing relatives. He stated that in fact that all the people of Pakistan have fundamental rights including the right of life, liberty and freedom of movement and the Court will make every effort to ensure that no body should deprived of his fundamental rights. He stressed that no body can be arrested and kept in detention except for breach of law. The Chief Justice further hoped that the issue of missing persons will be resolved shortly.

The Hon’ble Chief Justice particularly praised the super performance of the Judges of the District Judiciary for deciding a large number of cases, for restoring the rights and redressing their grievances. He also lauded the role of Bar by cooperating with the Court by coming prepare to argue the cases and avoiding adjournments. The Chief Justice of Pakistan stressed upon the Judicial Officers and Members of the Bar to make all possible efforts to provide expeditious and affordable justice to all segments of the society.  He added that the litigant parties/general public has wide expectations from the Courts and Member of the Bar, therefore, the Judges and the Members of the Bar should come to their expecations.

The meeting adjourned and will resume its proceedings tomorrow (Saturday)