ISLAMABAD: The subordinate judiciary’s crisis deepened on Saturday as the district bar association not only continued their strike for a second consecutive day but also started reconstruction of their ‘unauthorised’ chambers within the premises of the district courts.

On the other hand, all 60 judges of the federal capital decided to not continue administration of justice till the lawyers called off their strike.

Earlier on Thursday night, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) had conducted an anti-encroachment operation on the directive of the district judiciary and removed 21 lawyers’ chambers illegally constructed on the footpath and in the emergency exit of the district courts.

The lawyers, however, had reconstructed all 21 chambers by Saturday and also continued their strike over the issue of rotation of judges of the sessions court.

Sources within the district judiciary told Dawn that 40 judges of the sessions west division and 20 judges of east division had decided not to continue civil and criminal proceedings on the cases pending before their respective courts till strike was called off.

The sources said it was not possible for the judges to conduct the routine proceedings due to the lawyers’ strike. The lawyers, they said, misbehaved with judges and forced them to leave the courtroom.

It may be noted that this is being done in the district judiciary where as per the recent statistics of the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan (LJCP) the backlog is of 38,291 cases and on average over 1,000 cases are added into this pendency every month.

The lawyers’ bodies of the federal capital issued a strike call to register their protest over the proposal that was tabled before the Supreme Court by the attorney general for Pakistan. The lawyers were demanding rotation i.e. transfer of the judges of the lower courts to the subordinate judiciary of four provincial high courts and posting of judges from these high courts to Islamabad on deputation.

The government, on the other hand, proposed that instead of posting judges to other provinces, they may be transferred to the departments and ministries of the federal government within the Islamabad Capital Territory.

According to the president of the Islamabad Bar Association, this proposal was unacceptable since a well-connected judge might rejoin the district judiciary any time after his posting in any government department. He said that the lawyers would continue their strike till their demand for rotation of judges was accepted.

“The lawyers expect that Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar may pass an appropriate order on the next date of hearing of this case scheduled in the first week of January,” he said, adding that “in case our demand are not met, the lawyers will completely lockdown the entire federal capital”.

The issue of Islamabad judiciary has been lingering on since the establishment of the city as the planners completely ignored the courts in the layout plan of the federal capital.

The 1960 master plan of Islamabad did not allocate space for the lower courts and they have been operating in the makeshift arrangements since then.

In 2005, the government planned to shift the lower courts to the newly-constructed district court complex, but the devastating October earthquake forced the government to defer the shifting.

In 2007, former president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf established the Islamabad High Court. In the absence of a proper building for the high court, the district courts complex was used for the purpose.

The lawyers encroached upon the green belts, footpaths and every open space within and in the surroundings of the district courts, including a football ground.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court took suo motu notice on the lawyers’ encroachment of the football ground and the case is still pending adjudication.

Published in Dawn, December 23rd, 2018