KARACHI: Newly appointed Sindh High Court Chief Justice Faisal Arab warned on Tuesday that stern action would be taken against the judges of the district judiciary if they were found involved in any corrupt practice.

He issued this warning while talking to reporters after Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan administered the oath to him at the lawns of the SHC.

Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, sitting and former judges of the Supreme Court and the SHC and a large number of lawyers were also present on the occasion.

Chief Justice Arab said that the judiciary faced numerous problems and vowed to resolve them with the assistance of fellow judges and the legal fraternity.

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He said that the SHC was still short of 10 judges, while 220 posts of judicial officers were lying vacant in the subordinate judiciary.

The chief justice said that there was a dire need to fill the vacancies as shortage of judges caused hindrance in dispensation of justice.

He said that the process of appointment of judges of the SHC and district courts was cumbersome and it could take a few months to complete. However, he assured that the judges would be appointed on merit as soon as possible.

Chief Justice Arab warned that stern action would be taken against the judges who were found involved in corrupt practices. “Most of the judicial officers are honest and competent, but a few of them are involved in corrupt practices and bring disgrace to the entire institution.”

He said that earlier a judicial officer found in corrupt practices was either transferred to a remote part of the province or he was not promoted. “But now stern action would be taken against the corrupt officials,” he declared.

The chief justice said that a mechanism for expeditious disposal of cases would be introduced to clear the backlog.

In response to a question, he said he was absolutely against the strikes and boycotts of court proceedings frequently called by the lawyers’ associations as litigants suffered most due to the closure of legal work at the courts.

Replying to another question, the chief justice said the maintenance of law and order was the responsibility of police and law enforcement agencies.

In response to a query regarding cases pending disposal for over 30 and 40 years, the chief justice replied that many cases could not proceed if the counsel for the two litigant parties were not prepared about the case. He, however, said a mechanism would also be devised to resolve the issue with the assistance of bar associations.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2015

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