With praiseworthy rapidity, the first court pressed into service
In a stroke of political ingenuity, the hard pressed KPK government has launched the latest initiative in the criminal justice world – court on wheels. A Hino bus outfitted with air conditioners and all the necessary amenities took to the roads of the restive province this month. The ‘justice mobile’ costs about Rs10 million which arguably is worth every paisa when it comes to clearing the mammoth backlog of cases, some close to 50 years old. This latest venture of the PTI-led coalition government is commendable to say the least, considering the fact that in a terrorism-hit province like KPK, it’s slightly difficult for the plaintiffs and defendants to travel to the far flung judicial institutions and the distant courts. Then the heavy cost and the invariably long duration with too many dates involved too is a cross too heavy to carry for those seeking justice. That is why when it comes to the new KPK government’s desire to give relief to the common man, this is as good as it gets.
For the first time in KPK’s recent history, it can be said with some measure of assurance that the administration has strategised with some foresight. With praiseworthy rapidity, the first mobile courthouse has been pressed into service. One of the first locales visited by the justice mobile was Peshawar’s Hayatabad neighbourhood where the bus pulled over into a parking lot to dish out justice. The honourable judge Fazal Wadood braved the sweltering heat owing to dysfunctional air conditioner while deciding approximately 30 cases on the first day alone. No sooner had the doors been opened that the first petitioner, Musarat Shah, went aboard. Shah had been in the midst of a property dispute for the past five years and welcomed the laudable initiative taken by the establishment.
But the ‘justice mobile’ has got its hands full; especially when it comes to parallel judicial systems, something the unfortunate province is not short on. The tradition-bound jirga system is the official court’s main competitor. The easy to access local judicial bodies sport a definite edge over the overburdened and bogged down federal and provincial courts; they mete out quick verdicts, the plaintiff and defendants do not have to chase the officials or hire crafty lawyers. The jirgas however fall way short when it comes to the quality of verdicts they hand out. The usual punishments are not community services but the forced marriage of females, often underage to the one who comes out on top according to the tribal elders making up the jirga. So as the justice bus rolls down the roads in KPK, it has a long way to go in order to prove its effectiveness, particularly in the Taliban-infested province where tribesmen rarely approach the courts which are viewed as mere remnants of a disintegrating judicial system and where the ever-mighty tribals and their jirgas hold sway.
