In Search of Justice
By Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)
Westridge, Rawalpindi


Justice delayed is justice denied. But more harm is done when either the judge is corrupt or the lawyer incompetent or both Therefore, all three aspects – the delay, the corrupt judge and the incompetent lawyer- need to be looked into to improve the state of affairs. Since there is a huge backlog of pending cases in the courts, some as old as that of before the creation of Pakistan, and the pile up is mounting with each passing day, some drastic steps need to be taken to combat effectively such a dire situation.
Revolutionise the Judicial System: The opposing litigants in each and every case always know exactly who is right and who is wrong. The Govt. should, therefore, introduce the following Revolutionary System of Judgement:
1. After extensive publicity using all media and measures, announce nation wide and give them three months to decide among themselves all their pending cases/disputes mutually, to be Settled Out of the Court, and withdraw their cases. Otherwise, all those cases which are not mutually decided, would be tried by the courts in the most expeditious manner and the loser will be awarded the most severe punishment, including confiscation of all his/her movable and immovable assets and properties in consonance with the severity of the case.
2. Within the allowed period of three months, the feuding litigants can take their cases to the village/mohalla elders to act as arbitrators, who are normally well aware of the merits of a case. This could lead to the effective re-introduction of village/mohalla Panchayat System once again which would take tremendous load off the courts.
3. For registration of any fresh case with the judiciary it will be assumed that the litigants have failed to arrive at a mutual consent either by themselves or through the village/mohalla Panchayat, and therefore the loser understands that he will be subjected to the most severe punishment, including forfeiture of his/her properties.
With the above, a drastic reduction in the number of cases – old and new - is expected
Judges:
1. Judges salaries and remunerations are increased to the extent of making them temptation free. If someone still indulges in corruption even after that, he/she must be dealt with exemplarily.
2. To improve their professional capabilities, a judge whose three decisions are reversed in a quarter by the higher court should be censured, which should be reflected in his/her ACR.
Lawyers: To ensure professional ethics and morality, a lawyer’s licence to practice be cancelled, after three warning(s), if he/she:
1. Accepts the brief of a case knowing fully well it to be false.
2. Accepts the brief of an accused even after having full knowledge of him/her having committed the offence.
3. Continues to hold the brief for his client or defend him/her even after he comes to know of the true facts at any stage during the proceedings that his client has either a false case or has had committed the unlawful offence.
Efficiency: Apart from above, the following should also be ensured:
1. Courts to work full time. Avoid late arrival of judges and lawyers, numerous tea breaks, guests in chamber, postponements on flimsy grounds by corrupt Court Readers, false Medical Certificates (the MO/Dr. issuing such false certificates be prosecuted and debarred from medical practice)
2. Lawyers’ strikes: They should never boycott courts. It causes immense inconvenience and harm to their clients. They can always work and protest at the same time by wearing a ‘white’ band (with suitable inscription too, if required) on the left arm of their black jacket to make it more visible and pronounced.

Let’s hope and pray that justice will neither be denied nor delayed.

 

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Editor: Akhtar M. Faruqui
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