ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday once again came under criticism in the National Assembly when the government informed lawmakers that it had no information about the setting up of model courts working in the country as the SC registrar was not providing them the details despite repeated attempts for the past over 30 months.

Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf had to refer the matter to the house committee after members lodged a strong protest over the non-receipt of the reply to a question that had been asked by PML-N MNA Tahira Aurangzeb in February 2020, seeking details of the model courts set up in the country in April 2019 for speedy trial of criminal cases.

“The subject of setting up of model courts is not the initiative of the federal government. The model courts are administered by the honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan. Therefore, this ministry has no information in the matter,” said Parliamentary Secretary for Law and Justice Mehnaz Akbar Aziz while reading out a written reply, prompting a protest by independent MNA from Waziristan Mohsin Dawar and PPP member Qadir Khan Mandokhel.

The parliamentary secretary said her ministry had approached the Law and Justice Commission and the Federal Judicial Academy with a request to provide the requisite information which was still awaited.

Taking the floor, Mr Dawar recalled that the said question had been discussed in the house several times in the last more than two years and each time it was deferred because of the failure of the SC to provide details of the model courts.

Speaker refers the matter to house committee after protest by lawmakers

“If the law ministry is unaware about the model courts, then from where the National Assembly will seek details?” asked Mr Dawar.

“The SC perhaps considers itself above the whole system that is why it is not replying to the question,” he said.

PPP’s Mandokhel said that they had been tired of hearing the same response from the ministry again and again for the past two years. He asked the chair to hand over the matter to him and challenged that he would get details within a week.

On the request of the parliamentary secretary, the speaker referred the issue to the house committee on law and justice with the direction to seek details sought by the PML-N member through the question.

Exactly one year ago on Nov 10, the MNAs had lodged a strong protest over the same issue when the then parliamentary secretary under PTI government, Maleeka Bokhari, admitted that despite repeated attempts, the ministry had failed to get replies to some of the questions asked by lawmakers.

It was the day the apex court had summoned former prime minister Imran Khan during the hearing of the case regarding the attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar.

Ms Aurangzeb had regretted that she had submitted this question in February 2020 and each time when it came on the agenda, she received the same reply that “the model courts are administered by the SC and, therefore, the SC registrar, and the Federal Judicial Academy have been requested to provide the requisite information”.

She said the ministry had written at least 15 letters to the SC registrar, but there had been no response. She had criticised the then PTI government for its failure to seek a reply from the SC to a simple question.

While responding, Ms Bokhari had stated that the government wanted to give a reply to the question, but at the same time it could neither force the top court to give a reply nor could it issue any directives to the court. She said the law ministry officials had been in contact with the SC registrar over the issue and the reply would be submitted as soon as it was received.

Another PPP MNA Abdul Qadir Patel said a similar reply had been given by the government in response to a question regarding the collection of dam funds by the SC. In an apparent reference to former chief justice Saqib Nisar, the PPP MNA said the government should simply give in writing that “Baba has fled with the dam funds”.

Soon after the question hour, PTI dissident Asiya Azeem, while speaking on a point of order, asked the federal government to take action against those protesters who were blocking the roads in the wake of ongoing PTI protests in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. She said in Rawalpindi, the people on a self-help basis and after some arguments had managed to get the roads cleared from “miscreants” but still motorways were blocked at several points.

Ms Azeem then pointed out lack of qu­o­rum, prompting the speaker to adjourn the proceedings till Monday evening.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2022