The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has never attained its full strength of judges since it became functional under the 18th Constitutional Amendment a year ago.
Currently three posts of judges are lying vacant, whose occupants have either retired or have been elevated.
According to the 18th amendment, the Islamabad High Court is to have a chief justice and six judges – one each from four provinces, one from Islamabad Capital Territory and one from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. The chief justice is also to be appointed on rotation basis.
When contacted, Islamabad High Court Bar Association President Syed Nayab Hassan Gardzei said the purpose of IHC’s creation was to facilitate the litigants of Islamabad Capital Territory, but they were facing problems due to the shortage of judges. Some 9,000 cases are pending in the court, he added.
He said the Islamabad District Bar and the Islamabad High Court Bar had jointly passed a resolution calling for appointing the judges from the capital’s legal community.
He said that the lawyers belonging to Islamabad should also be appointed as judges in the courts of all provinces like the appointments in IHC from all over the country.
