Islamabad District Courts, that have been bifurcated in District Courts (East) and District Court (West) since promulgation of Islamabad High Court Act, 2010 suffer from acute shortage of judges at all tiers which contributes to mounting backlogs of cases, overburdened judges and month-long adjournments.
The sanctioned strength of judges in both District Courts of Islamabad is 113 whereas only 76 judges are working at various tiers. Against 62 sanctioned posts of civil judges-cum-judicial magistrates, only 48 judges are working. Only 17 additional district and sessions judges are working while the sanctioned strength is 30. Only 2 senior civil judges are performing their duties against the sanctioned strength of 6. The situation is dire when it comes to district and sessions’ judges, as only 9 posts have been filled while 6 lie vacant.
Out of the total sanctioned strength of 113, only 76 have been filled, while 37 posts of judges at all tiers remain vacant. Furthermore, the disparity between number of working judges of District Courts (West) and District Courts (East) is also stark.
The district courts of Islamabad have territorial jurisdiction over both rural and urban areas of Islamabad and made them categorise under Islamabad High Court (IHC). With rising population, migration from rural to urban areas and increase in both civil and criminal litigation the surge in number of cases in capital’s district courts is on the rise.
As of December, 2016 more than 30 thousand cases of civil and criminal nature are pending before Islamabad district courts alone.
A source in Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights confided that the vacant posts of judicial officers have to be filled within 120 days as per the directions of Supreme Court and Law and Justice Commission.
While talking to Pakistan Today, Advocate Chaudhary Faizan who practices at Islamabad District Court said that due to shortage of judges the litigant bears the brunt. “If one looks at some cause lists of cases in some courts, one can find 35, even 40 cases there”, he said.
Many of the advocates ask for a future date on certain ground, and month long adjournments are the norm. There is acute shortage of judges in Islamabad District Courts and the induction of new judges is nowhere in sight, he said.
