THEY say you should age gracefully, that you should accept some things in life and move on. Some adhere to these principles; others end up getting a hair transplant. Either way, the idea is to accept things that are inevitable, like taxes. And that is exactly what some retired judges have recently done. The Chief Justice of Pakistan has opined that due to a huge backlog of pending cases in the Apex Court (54,000 or so), his Lordship wishes to re-appoint retired Supreme Court judges back to the Apex Court in order to assist with deciding cases faster to expedite disposal.
Correct idea? Maybe. Erroneous execution? Definitely. I’ll tell you why. Respectfully, in my opinion, there are various senior advocates of the Honourable Supreme Court as well as the High Court who are below the age of 65 and possess more than enough qualifications and experience to form a part of the learned Bench of the Apex Court. You don’t need to re-appoint the retired judges. They played their innings, did their job to the best of their abilities and moved on. It is now time for the newer (relatively newer) lot to take a stab at things. Maybe they’ll dispose of matters way faster; who knows? Such an arrangement would not only allow for that probability, but it also increases societal participation in judicial matters. You’ll have people from within the system, without big names or a legal background, going up to the Supreme Court as a judge and deciding cases. Imagine the story! Imagine the wings you’ll be giving to people who’ve dedicated their lives to this profession. Alex Pereira, eat your heart out.
Not only that, it will restore or at least increase people’s faith in the judiciary. Imagine a senior hard-working lawyer being elevated to the bench. Not only good optics but a good idea too. Coming back from idealistic notions, the Honourable Chief Justice should give this a try. Speaking as a practicing lawyer, it will be rejuvenating.
Speaking of rejuvenating, the High Court of Sindh needs rejuvenation. It needs more judges. Let’s address the problem at the root cause. Two more learned judges of the Sindh High Court will be retiring soon, which will make matters grimmer considering the total number of judges should be 40. We will soon be operating at less than 30 judges in the Sindh High Court. Imagine the difference 10 more judges would make.
And this is just the Sindh High Court. I haven’t yet even considered the High Courts around the country and the situation of vacancies there. But the entire issue has to be resolved at the root in order to get rid of pending cases. Re-appointing retired judges to expedite disposal isn’t going to do the trick.
Judges are human. They can only do so much, and I recognize that. Lawyers are a part of the problem too. Counsels tend to file the most frivolous cases because the clients are paying them big bucks. And then they pay more to file another case. Multiplicity of proceedings is a massive issue that continues to plague our legal system. And these aren’t your average lawyers.
These are big names filing illogical cases, obtaining interim orders, and then seeking adjournments for years and years. Ingredients required to obtain an injunctive order? Face value and face value. If you thought I was going to say balance of convenience, irreparable damage and prima facie case, get a grip, Alice in Wonderland.
So, what should and will do the trick is imposing heavy costs on counsels filing frivolous cases and wasting the time of the courts. Heavy costs on counsels seeking repetitive adjournments and, of course, increasing the number of judges in courts. Only when these measures are strictly implemented can expeditious disposal of cases become a possibility. Appointment of ad hoc judges isn’t something that sounds like a long-term solution. I’ll stop here before I lose my only source of earning bread.
—The writer is a lawyer with a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice from Northeastern University.
