Supreme Court of Pakistan and Provincial High Courts Summer Of holidays Notifications have been issued, according to which the vacation in the Supreme Court started from July 15.
According to the Supreme Court declaration, due to the presence of a large number of pending cases, one month’s vacation has been reduced.
Every year the summer vacation of the Supreme Court starts from June 15. However, this time it has been decided to reduce these holidays by one month.
This year the holidays will be from July 15 to September 15.
In the declaration by the Lahore High Court, it has been said that the summer vacation will be for six weeks, which has started from July 22.
Most of the judges have gone on vacation and only five judges are performing duties.
Subordinate courts of Punjab will also have summer vacation from July 20 to August 31, during which few judges on duty will hear urgent cases.
A declaration has been issued to postpone the hearing on the application filed in the Supreme Court once morest the decision of specific seats till the last week of September following the holidays. A dissenting note of Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa has also been issued on this matter.
According to retired Justice Nasira Iqbal of Lahore High Court, ‘There are holidays in all government departments. Therefore, summer vacations are also necessary for judges. Because they work under a lot of pressure. As their duties are tough, they also need to get a chance to have fun in the summer.’
According to Supreme Court Bar President Shehzad Shaukat: ‘During the British era, white judges used to go to Britain for vacation due to the heat in this region. This tradition is still practiced today. Judges should get vacations in the summer, but the reduction in the adjournment of cases throughout the year has become inevitable.
Former Senior Reader High Court Irfan Izad Advocate said that ‘When English judges were given summer vacations, fans were also hand-held in the courts. But now December weather is maintained in courts with central AC system. These holidays are no longer needed.’
Vacation of judges and adjournment of cases
The Supreme Court had canceled the summer vacation of judges in 2019. In this regard, a declaration was issued that it has been decided to continue working to ensure the delivery of justice even in the summer of this year. The Supreme Court is aware of the pending cases and hence the work in all branch registries including the principal seat will continue during the summer to ensure justice to the people.
Speaking to journalists, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said that Pakistan ranks 129th among 140 countries in the world in providing justice system. There are many hurdles in prompt justice in our country including a growing number of pending cases.’
In March this year, the Parliament was told that more than 1.860 thousand cases are pending in the courts across the country while the High Courts go on vacation for two months in summer and the district courts for one month in summer.
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The recent report of the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan regarding the pending cases has stated that the number of pending cases in the Supreme Court, Sharia Court, all High Courts and District Courts has reached 22 lakh 60 thousand.
According to the report, pending cases increased by 3.9 percent during the last six months of 2023, with 82 percent of the total pending cases in district courts and 18 percent in high courts.
Between July and December 2023, 23 lakh 80 thousand new cases were registered. During this period, 2.3 lakh cases were disposed of. 81% of the cases pending in the Provincial High Courts are civil cases.
Supreme Court Bar President Shehzad Shaukat said that the duties performed by the judges include the hearing of political and state cases. So they have to make decisions according to the law and justice which requires a lot of attention. Judges’ vacations are fine, but the problem is pending cases. On the one hand, the number of judges is quite low in terms of population, and this also puts pressure on the judges. Judges must take vacations, but the whole year should be more focused on dealing with cases.
According to Justice Muneeb Akhtar, ‘Once judicial holidays are announced, there is no room in the rules to cancel the holidays.’
The Chief Justice of Pakistan disagreed and said that under Section Seven of the Practice and Procedure Act, if the matter is urgent, the review should be scheduled for hearing within 15 days. It has been requested from the Supreme Court that if the revision hearing is not scheduled within 15 days, the case itself will become ineffective. If the Supreme Court does not fix the review hearing in 15 days, the 15 days limit given in the majority judgment will be over and the case itself will become ineffective.
The senior lawyer of the Supreme Court, Ghulam Mohammad Chaudhry, in the petition filed in the Supreme Court once morest these vacations of the judges a few years ago, called the summer vacations given to the judges as illegal. But the plea was rejected on technical grounds that it was not a public interest litigation.
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2024-07-22 01:36:57
