Inaugurated back in November 2 2013, Phase-II of Federal Judicial Academy, Islamabad by former chief justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has not been made operational 3 years after its completion.
Plans to expand Federal Judicial Academy, H-8 Islamabad were under consideration by Ministry of Law and Justice since 2004, as the space in the original academy was insufficient.
New classrooms and faculty residence was needed but due to lack of funds, the project remained shelved only to be revived years later by the then chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry in July, 2011 and in record time, the substantial construction was completed within the next two years.
The funds were readily issued by Ministry of Law and Justice as the total cost has exceeded to Rs. 250 million from the original estimation and 250 million rupees have been spent on the extension.
At present, the brainchild of former chief justice lies vacant and abandoned. The building that cost around 1000 million rupees spans on a total area of 216581.345 sq ft and comprises 145 class rooms, hostel rooms for guests and under training judges, apartments for faculty members, servant quarters, a gymnasium and two basements for parking.
“No one is willing to own the project and even authorities at Federal Judicial Academy are clueless on how to sustain this white elephant that keeps on asking for more.”
The question therefore is of ownership of FJA Phase-II. Chaudhry owned it as he saw himself as chancellor and head of ‘Centre of Excellence’ after his retirement. It was an open secret even back then.
“The enthusiasm and interest showed by former Chief Justice was rooted in this possibility, however, all of it went in vain,’ an official of Ministry of law and justice, on condition of anonymity”, told Pakistan Today.
The federal capital has no public sector law university. As previously reported in Pakistan Today on January 14, the government has shelved its plan to establish National University of Law and Social Sciences even after retaining the land for the project.
A senior corporate lawyer, who has taught for many years at FJA, when asked what purpose the finished university can serve, said, “It is better to turn this huge, expensive building into a National Law University, as in our country there is not a single law university at national level. As a matter of fact this is the only suitable purpose it can have. It is about time that we took this initiative and save more than a billion rupees investment from disuse and ruin.”