59,191 cases pending before SC, full court told

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan’s full court vowed to decide around 60,000 pending cases at the earliest, ARY News reported.

The full court meeting was chaired by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Yahya Afridi and attended by all other judges. Senior Puisne Judge Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah attended the meeting through video link, a press statement issued here read.

“The meeting was convened to assess the performance of Supreme Court in the institution and disposal of cases, focusing on measures to reduce case backlog and enhance judicial efficiency. The Registrar provided an overview of the current caseload and outlined the steps toward timely decision of cases,” the statement added.

The SC registrar also presented updated statistics, indicating that 59,191 cases are currently pending and introduced a newly devised one-month plan based on Case Management Plan 2023 prepared by Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah.

“The plan includes setting clear standards, employing information technology to effectively manage all categories of cases. Reviewing the Case Management Plan, the Hon’ble judges discussed a range of strategies to achieve the plan’s targets. Criminal and civil cases, as detailed in the monthly plan, were allocated to specialized two- and three-member benches to ensure swift and speedy case resolution,” it added.

The judges shared ‘valuable’ insights and recommendations for further system improvement, underscoring their commitment to addressing case backlog.

“Hon’ble Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, participating via video link, offered additional suggestions aimed at reducing the case backlog and improving procedural efficiency initially for one month and followed by three-month and six-month plans,” the statement read.

CJP Yahya Afridi thanked all the judges for their resolve to implement the Case Management Plan in full, with a commitment to achieve the outlined targets.

The progress will be reviewed in the next session of the Full Court meeting scheduled for 2nd December 2024.