Justice Khosa vows to attend causes for delay in disposition of cases

I would also like to build dam against undue delays in judicial determination of cases, said Khosa.

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Chief Justice-designate Asif Saeed Khosa on Thursday has said that we have reached a stage in our national life where we must take stock of the mistakes committed in the past and to come up with a Charter of Governance so as to ensure that such mistakes are not repeated in future. Addressing the full court reference arranged for the outgoing Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar, Justice Khosa said, “Suo motu exercise of this Court’s jurisdiction under Article 184(3) of the Constitution shall be exercised very sparingly and only in respect of larger issues of national importance where either there is no other adequate or efficacious remedy available or the available constitutional or legal remedies are ineffective or are rendered incapacitated.” “I would also like to build some dams, a dam against undue and unnecessary delays in judicial determination of cases, a dam against frivolous litigation and a dam against fake witnesses and false testimonies and would also try to retire a debt, the debt of pending cases which must be decided at the earliest possible, he continued.” Justice Khosa said, “Let us also discuss how the legislature can be restricted to its legislative domain and how the legislators can be held back to their legislative role rather than encroaching upon the executive domain through development funds and through interference in appointment, posting, transfer or promotion of public servants which is the main breeding ground for misuse of authority, corruption, lack of merit, inefficiency and the resultant bad governance.” 

He said that there are about 1.9 million cases pending in the country before all the courts put together and to handle such a huge number of cases there are only about 3000 Judges and Magistrates available from top to bottom.

"It is time to introduce some structural and systemic changes so as to minimize litigation, eliminate unnecessary delays and rationalize the workload," he said.

Justice Asif Saeed Khosa said that in the recent past there has been a trust deficit between different organs of the state and every organ has reasons for sticking to its declared position, adding that time has come when we should put our heads together and in the spirit of truth and reconciliation discuss the larger issues jeopardizing good governance.

Justice Khosa said that let us also discuss the role of the armed forces and the intelligence agencies in the governance paradigm. Civilian supremacy as well as civilian accountability are sine qua non for democratic sustainability. He said it should also be deliberated how civilian supremacy can be ensured alongside civilian accountability without the process of accountability destabilizing democracy.

The CJP designate proposed holding of an inter-institutional dialogue at the summit level with President of Pakistan to be chaired. He also asked for coming up with a Charter of Governance to avoid past mistakes.