LAHORE: (APP) Lahore High Court Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah on Friday addressed the first of a kind policy level meeting regarding the conceptual and operational working of Special Courts/Ex Cadre Courts of the Province of Punjab.
Justice Abdul Sami Khan and Justice Shams Mehmood Mirza of the Lahore High Court also attended the meeting. Presiding Officers of the Ex Cadre Courts and heads of various government departments were also present.
The chief justice apprised the participants that the Special Courts/Ex Cadre Courts were as important as the mainstream courts in the system of administration of justice and as such in order to restore the confidence of litigant public, such courts needed special attention.
He said that there was a dire need to rationalize the existence of the Special Courts/Ex Cadre Courts throughout the divisions of Punjab so as to enable the people of the Province to have direct access to justice.
He explained to the participants that in past the issues hampering the performance of Special Courts/Ex Cadre Courts in Punjab could not be properly addressed which was a major hurdle in dispensation of justice by Special Courts/Ex Cadre Courts.
He briefed the participants of the meeting with the fact that by convening the meeting, a platform had been created to diagnose the issues and visualize viable solutions to such issues. The chief justice said that he had a firm belief that it was only possible through negotiation and dialogue that the relationship of the judiciary with other branches of the government could become smoother thereby resulting in quicker dispensation of justice to general public.
All the participants of the meeting actively participated in the proceedings of the meeting especially the District and Sessions Judges representing the Presiding Officers of the Special Courts/Ex Cadre Courts all over Punjab who strenuously highlighted the infrastructural, staffing, transportation, and security issues which were preventing the Special Courts/Ex Cadre Courts to perform at the optimum levels.
The chief justice said that he had made an Ex Cadre Council comprising of the most senior judges from Special Courts/Ex Cadre Courts as focal persons and key officers from the government and that the meetings of Ex Cadre Council would be held on monthly basis.
He apprised the participants that for future meeting Case Management Plan, Provision of Facilities and Benefits to Special Courts/Ex Cadre Courts and Fast Track appointment system shall serve as an agenda. At the end the Chief Justice thanked all the participants for their participation.