MANSEHRA: Justice Nisar Hussain Khan of the Peshawar High Court on Friday said the end to the ‘police and patwar culture’ would cut down the number of the cases filed with the lower courts in the province by half.

Justice Nisar told the ‘annual lunch’ of the Mansehra District Bar Association here that the judiciary was ensuring the speedy dispensation of justice to the people by staying within its constitutional limits.

“If the police and patwar culture changes, I am sure that 50 percent cases will not be taken to the lower judiciary,” he said.

The judge, who earlier inaugurated the Rs700 million upgradation of the Justice Ijaz Afzal Khan Hall to a modern sanatorium, said the burden of lower courts could decrease drastically if minor cases were settled through reconciliatory bodes.

He said if matters were taken up by the departments on merit, it might pave the way for cutting down the number of cases filed with the lower courts.

“The speedy dispensation of justice means a litigant will be given due rights in his or her life,” he said.

Justice Nisar urged lawyers to play active role in ensuring the early provision of justice to litigants.

President of the district bar association Hafiz Naseem Khan, who was also in attendance, said the government should increase the number of judges for prompt disposal of cases. “Lawyer work shoulder to shoulder with judiciary for speedy dispensation of justice to the people but the shortage of judges is a big hurdle to it. The government should appoint more judges to address this issue,” he said.

Mr. Hafiz Naseem said work on the judicial complex should immediately begin to address problems faced by lawyer and litigants.

FUNDS OKAYED: The provincial government has sanctioned Rs40 million for four water schemes planned for the remote parts of Torghar district.

This was stated by local MPA Zareen Gul, the chairman of the district development advisory committee, told a public meeting in Judbah area on Friday.

The lawmaker said work on the four water supply schemes for which the funds had been approved would begin soon. He said the residents of Batila, Chakot, Kara Patawa and Ashary areas would benefit from the schemes in question.

Mr. Gul said water schemes would also be launched in other remote villages in the district. He asked the people of Torghar to monitor execution of development schemes to ensure fair use of funds.

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2016