Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali has said that Supreme Court has decided a total of 15,000 petitions during the last judicial year. Addressing an event on the commencement of judicial year 2015-16 here on Monday, the Chief Justice said that backlog of the judicial year 2014-15 was 24,000 whereas 17,000 new petitions were received and 600 cases were restored.
He categorically stated that Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) would be made effective to hear complaints against superior courts judges being filed under Article 209 of the Constitution. Appreciating the role of apex court's Human Rights Cell (HRC), the Chief Justice said that the Cell disposed of as many as 28034 complaints. He added that major portion of the complaints was against police, executive, government officials, and about women and minority rights besides issues relating to government servants pension matters.
He said that at present the backlog of the complaints was 11002, adding that to redress the grievances of overseas Pakistanis a separate wing was established in the HRC during last judicial year which received 2055 complaints out of which 661are still pending. Justice Jamali said that policy of self-accountability should not be one sided as the bar should also adopt the same principle and decide all complaints against lawyers as well.
"Everybody should continue his/her efforts to dispense quick and inexpensive justice through neutral verdicts to meet the hopes of masses of the country," the Chief Justice concluded.