———- Speedy dispensation of justice is govt’s top priority, asserts Tarar
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar has said dispensation of speedy and inexpensive justice to the people was amongst the top most priorities of the present government.
Responding to a question during Question Hour in the National Assembly today, he said the government has constituted three task forces to review civil, criminal and NAB laws.
Moreover, a Special Committee has been constituted to set up legal aid mechanism for the poor and vulnerable sections of society. The Minister said his ministry was reviewing various laws to ensure inexpensive and speedy justice to the public. In this regard, the Prime Minister has constituted a Legal Reform Committee under the chairmanship of Minister for Law and Justice.
Azam Nazeer Tarar said the government is implementing several reforms and initiatives in collaboration with the judiciary to ensure that delays were minimized and justice was served efficiently. Responding to a Calling Attention notice, Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said that inclusion of Allama Iqbal Open University’s students in the Prime Minister’s laptop scheme will be ensured. He, however, said the final decision in this regard has yet to be taken.
Earlier, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said Saturday that Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa had told him that he was “not interested” in extension of his tenure as the top judge.
Tarar gave the clarification about CJP Isa’s extension in tenure while speaking during media programme “Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath”. The law minister said that the chief justice, after the meeting of the judicial commission, had told him in the presence of the attorney general that he was not interested in extending his tenure.
He said that CJP Isa had told him that rumours had been circulating about his extension. “I told him (CJP) no such thing is happening at all,” he said, adding that the top judge then appreciated him for clarifying the matter.
The law minister noted that he informed the chief justice that work on pension reforms was however underway, which included a suggestion for increasing the age of retirement by two years across all sectors.
He then recalled that when the government was considering increasing the retirement age by two years, a suggestion was made that the judges should also be considered in this regard. However, he did not mention who suggested it. He said a constitutional amendment is needed to implement this, “but this doesn’t mean we necessarily want to grant an extension”.
“Times have changed and people are retired at the age of 60 and sent home. There is this an opinion prevalent in the country that the retirement age should be extended by two years across the board so that we could save hundreds of billions of rupees and the pressure on the economy could ease.
This way, we can also benefit from trained officers,” Tarar remarked.
