ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Barrister Syed Ali Zafar has supported the decision of the chief justice and the judges of the Lahore High Court (LHC) to not have further divisional benches of the court.
According to a statement issued on Thursday, he said that the basis of the (LHC) decision was that the independence, integrity and respect as well as efficient working of the top most court of the province and the administration of justice, will be adversely affected and compromised.
Barrister Zafar said that the Civil and District Courts have been established to undertake work in the divisions, while the constitutional, the appellate and revisional jurisdictions against the judgments of the Civil and District Courts remains under the jurisdiction of the high court.
If the (LHC) benches were established in divisions, it will lead to equating the high court with the district courts, he added. He further said that he had consulted with senior members of the Supreme Court Bar and also retired chief justices, who also supported, that establishment of further divisional benches should be discouraged.
At the same time, the SCBA president said that the lawyers from the various divisions had genuine concerns and in order to meet those demands, LHC should have special benches representing the districts within the principal seat at Lahore so that when the lawyers from the districts come to argue their cases at Lahore, they would be able to obtain a hearing of their matters before the special benches and not face delay in fixation or hearings.
He said that the lawyers coming from district courts to Lahore get the opportunity to meet each other in one place, exchange views and hold dialogues and thereby improve the professional integrity, acumen, knowledge and practice.
