–Although inaugurated in November 2013, the building is yet to become operational
ISLAMABAD: Despite rampant suo motu notices and judicial activism by the superior court, the vacant building of the Phase-II of the Federal Judicial Academy still failed to grab the attention of the top judges.
The FJA-II, a 1.25 billion rupee project to expand the Academy, was inaugurated in November 2013 by then chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. But, despite its completion, the purpose and fate of the building hang in balance.
Due to a scarcity of space in the old FJA building, which was inaugurated in April 1991 by then chief justice Afzal Zullah, the Ministry of Law and Justice had been planning to expand the Federal Judicial Academy, H-8, Islamabad, since 2004. At that time, the need for more classrooms and faculty residence for judges and professors was pressing. But, due to a lack of funds, the ministry had shelved the project.
After the successful ‘Movement for the Restoration of Judiciary’, former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry revived the project, and it was during his tenure that the FJA was reimagined as the ‘Centre of Excellence’ aimed at offering training to the legal practitioners.
It is pertinent to mention here that a proposal was introduced in the Senate Standing Committee on Law, Justice and Human Rights back in 2015 to amend the charter of the judicial academy through ‘The Federal Judicial Academy (Amendment) Bill 2014’. However, the Senate failed to pass the bill.
While, the only one time this building was partially used when the joint investigation team (JIT) probing the Sharif family in the Panama Papers case used it as its headquarters on the directives of the Supreme Court.
On condition of strict anonymity, an official of Ministry of Law and Justice confided in Pakistan Today that the 1.25 billion rupee project neither had the backing nor the assent of the law ministry. “The main issue is of ownership. No one is willing to own the project. Even authorities at the Federal Judicial Academy are clueless about its purpose,” he said.
Iftikhar Chaudhry, when contacted, refused to comment on the issue.
