ISLAMABAD – A model court in the Sialkot district has created a record bydeciding 1993 cases of minor crimes in a single day. While the developmentwas an attempt to clear the backlog, it has raised some eyebrows as well.
The report has sparked a new debate among the legal community. Some lawyersbelieve that the “stunt” is not about deciding the maximum number of casesbut to manifest efficiency to the high-ups.
Commenting on the development, one of the lawyers said:
Usually, the courts operate from 9 pm to 4 pm. Deciding around 2000 casesin seven hours means each case took him not more than 5 seconds to decide.This is humanly impossible.
However, the Judicial Magistrate Syed Mehmood Afzal Shah seemed satisfiedafter creating a new record. He was unaware of the exact number of cases indifferent categories he ruled on.
His response to the question was:
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I do my work the entire day, and most of the time, I work till late atnight. I work from 9:00 am to 11:00 pm and sometimes till midnight, butlitigants are only engaged in work till 5:00 pm.
Responding to the concerns that it was humanly impossible, he said:“Everything is possible if you dare to do it.”
He refused to give the exact details on how many people were acquitted orhow many were sent to probation, but added that “a lot of cases werereferred to the probation department for counseling of the accused personsfor their future betterment.”
Magistrate Mehmood Afzal highlighted that his court was established in onJuly 15, 2019, but November remained the best month by performance.
