RAWALPINDI:
Three model criminal and civil courts have been formed in Rawalpindi district to speed up the hearing of murder, robbery and gang rape cases.
The courts will hear all cases of a serious nature in Rawalpindi district on a daily basis. The two criminal model courts will be presided over by Additional District and Sessions Judge Afshan Ijaz Sufi and Additional District and Sessions Judge Sardar Hamid Hussain. On the orders of the District and Sessions Judge Rawalpindi, all murder, gang rape and rape cases pending in the courts across the district have been transferred to these criminal model courts. The civil model court will be presided by Additional District and Sessions Judge Sarfaraz Ahmed.
An important meeting was held in relation to the model courts under the chairmanship of District and Sessions Judge Rawalpindi Abid Rizwan Abid in which the President District Bar Sardar Manzar Bashir, Secretary Malik Asad Mahmood, government prosecutors and model court judges participated.
The district bar and senior lawyers were informed that the lawyers of criminal cases should prepare themselves for the full prosecution of their cases going forward. They were warned that no undue delay will be given in any case and that all the constitutional and legal requirements of a transparent trial will be fulfilled in the hearing and trial of the cases.
Meanwhile, to ensure that the complete fines for all serious cases are presented in the courts within the constitutionally legal period, a joint meeting was also held between the SP Investigation and the District Public Prosecutor, senior prosecutors and investigation officers.
The investigation officers were informed about the establishment of the criminal model courts for timely hearings. The investigation officers were directed to present the complete challans of all cases in the courts within the next ten days so that their trials could be started.
Senior lawyers have rejected the establishment of model courts, saying that this kind of experiment has miserably failed before and has already been terminated twice in the past. Advocate Sabtain Bukhari said that a judge cannot hear 30 to 40 serious cases like murder and gang rape every day.
“If he does it forcibly, the requirements of justice will not be fulfilled. Questions are already being raised on the judiciary. Hearing cases on a daily basis will only create problems. A lawyer has to go to the High Court and the Supreme Court. He cannot stand in front of one court from morning to evening.
This failed experiment should not be repeated for the third time,” he said, adding that all serious cases should be decided within a year as per the law. “If the cases are slaughtered, the problems will only increase further.
