Sindh's lower courts grapple with low conviction rate

KARACHI: The conviction rate in Sindh’s lower courts has declined alarmingly, with only 2 percent of cases resulting in convictions in 2024, hinting at inadequate investigations and a lack of interest from prosecution, ARY News reported.

According to statistics, Sindh’s 663 courts managed to convict only 707 accused out of the numerous cases pending in the first 11 months of 2024. The number of pending cases has surged to 138,976, with a significant increase of 1,000 cases from the beginning of the year.

The lack of effective investigations and prosecution has also resulted in a significant number of acquittals, with 11 percent of cases ending in the accused being set free.

During the year 2024, 38,372 cases were decided, out of which 4,568 accused were acquitted and 824 cases were disposed of through compromise. The disposal rate stood at 19.4 percent.

The backlog of cases in Karachi’s courts has reached 87,609, adding to the woes of the judicial system.

It is worth mentioning here that the Supreme Court’s full court had vowed to decide around 60,000 pending cases at the earliest.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan has witnessed a reduction in pending cases, with the number dropping to 58,487.

According to the report, the number of pending cases had previously exceeded 60,000 during the tenure of former Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa.

The latest data, which covers the period from November 16 to 30, the court has managed to dispose of an additional 674 cases.

The report reveals that the court is currently dealing with 31,458 civil appeals, 10,208 criminal appeals, 18 suo motu cases, 2,209 civil review petitions, 136 human rights cases, and 3,251 jail petitions.

As per the report on September 4, the number of pending cases before the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan was more than 60,000 when Justice Faez Isa was in the CJP office.

According to a 15-day report (August 16 to 31), 861 fresh cases were filed with the top court of the country. The report, issued under Article 19-A which guarantees the right to information, read that the number of pending cases was 60,508 on August 31, 2024.