P L D 2011Peshawar 131
Before DostMuhammad Khan and Imtiaz Ali, JJ
MUHAMMAD SHERSHAH, SESSIONS JUDGE and 18 others—Petitioners
Versus
GOVERNMENT OFN.-W.F.P. through Chief Secretary and another—Respondents
Writ PetitionNo.1098 of 2010, decided on 6th July, 2010.
(a) Administrationof justice—
—-Outmodedbureaucratic tactics could not be allowed to be super-imposed or to overrideprinciples of law and justice.
(b) NationalJudicial (Policy Making) Committee Ordinance (LXXIof 2002)—
—-Ss. 3 &4—Constitution of Pakistan, Art.199—Constitutional petition–JudicialOfficers and staff of District Judiciary under Peshawar HighCourt—Claim for grant of Special Judicial Allowance at ratio of 3 timesover and above basic pay from 1-1-2008—Ground for such claim being working ofpetitioners and their colleagues beyondoffice hours to decide old cases speedily in pursuance of New Judicial Policy—Proposal of Government to grant such allowance equal to oneinitial basic pay plus 50% of runningbasic pay with arrears of one initial pay from 1-7-2010—Validity—International Organization hadappreciated target achieved by Peshawar High Court and District Judiciary bydeciding huge number of old cases—Petitionersand their colleagues had not been paid salaries and allowances according tosuch cumbersome job being done by them and according to their duration ofworking hours—Expression “JudicialOfficer of District Judiciary”herein used would include those working on ex-cadre posts including District& Sessions Judges, Additional District and Sessions Judges, Senior CivilJudges/Special Magistrates and Civil Judges/Magistrates, working under controland jurisdiction of Peshawar High Court and Qazies of all grades serving inProvincially Administered Tribal Areas—High Court directed Government to paysuch agreed pay with arrears of one initial pay from 1-7-2009 tosuch Judicial Officers and staff of ‘High Court—High Court allowed Governmentto pay such arrears from 1-7-2009 to 30-6-2010 in two instalments with monthlypay of September, 2010 and January, 2011—High Court directed Governmentofficials to sit with Administrative Officers including Registrar of High Court to invent ways and means to levy andraise court fee on specified cases without burdening poor litigants.
Sharaf Faridi’scase PLD 1994 SC 105 ref.
Abdul Sattar Khan,Muhammad Tariq Afridi, Qazi Jawad Ehsanullah Qureshi along with Qamar SohailLodhi, Secretary to HCJ for Petitioners.
Naveed AkhtarA.A.G., Shumail Ahmad Butt along with Sahibzada Saeed Ahmad, Secretary Finance,Masood Khan, Deputy Secretary and Amanat Ullah Khan, S.O. (L) FinanceDepartment, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for Respondents No.1 and 2.
Muhammad IqbalMohmand, Deputy Attorney General for Respondents Nos. 3 and 4.
Date of hearing:6th July, 2010.
JUDGMENT
DOST MUHAMMADKHAN, J.—Through thisconstitutional petition, filed in representative capacity, the petitionersnamely, Muhammad Sher Shah, District and Sessions Judge and eighteen (18)others have prayed for issuing writ of mandamus to the respondents, directingthem to enhance the judicial allowance of the petitioners and that of theEstablishment/staff of the High Court attached to the principal seat atPeshawar and the Benches at Abbottabad and D.I. Khan, at the ratio of threetimes over and above their initial substantive pay with effect from 1-1-2008and to further declare the refusal of the respondents, not taking the requiredstep as discriminatory, against the cause of justice in disregard of thedecision of National Judicial Policy MakingCommittee hence, is liable to be set at naught.
2. Arguments heardand record perused.
3. The case of thepetitioners is that they and others alike, whom they represent,are working as a constitutional body, being subordinate to the Peshawar HighCourt besides the establishment/staff of the High Court at principal seat andthe two Benches at Abbottabad and D.I.Khan. All of them are working under theumbrella of the High Court. The petition further explains that to revamp,revitalize and reactivate the entire judicial system at all levels, thePresident of Pakistan promulgated National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee(NJPMC) Ordinance, 2002. Under the provision of section 3 thereof, theCommittee is headed by Hon’ble the Chief Justice of Pakistan, as its Chairmanwhile the Hon’ble Chief Justice of Federal Shariat Court and Hon’ble the ChiefJustices of all the High Courts are its members. It has further been averredthat under section 4(c) of the Ordinance, it is the obligatory duty of theCommittee to suggest and bring improvement in the terms & conditions ofservice of the Judicial officers and Courts staff, ensuring highly skilled andefficient judicial system, so that, the backlog crises are overcome and thepublic at large is delivered timely justice without much expense and delay.
4. It has beenstated in Para-5 of the petition that the present salaries/emoluments paid tothe petitioners and the establishment/staff of the High Court do notcommensurate with the job description, the most complicated nature of dutiesand the burden of heavy work load, they are by now dealing with and that too,in a highly inconvenient and absolutely unfriendly environments. Their furthergrievance is that the salaries/ emoluments of similarly placed JudicialOfficers and establishment/staff of the High Courts in the Provinces of Punjaband Sindh have been enhanced at the ratio of three times of basic pay muchearlier but the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has failed to timely redresstheir grievance in an honourable and dignified manner.
5. Further, theystate that under the New Judicial Policy,framed and formulated by the NJPMC,the working hours of all the Judicial Officers and the establishment/staff ofthe High Court has almost become more than double, as all of them, do work from8-00 a.m. to 4-00 p.m. and in many cases it goes to late evening, leaving asidehuge bundles of cases files they do carry homes for study to prepare brief forthe next day and to apprise themselves of the facts of each case, involvinghighly delicate and complicated issues. Through very elaborate judgments theydetermined valuable rights of the parties involved in each case, the Provincialand Federal Governments both are no exception, thus, on average basis, theminimum duty hours both in the Court Rooms/Offices/work place and at theirresidences at night comes to sixteen (16) hours per day which is incomparableand unmatchable. On no premises job done by them could be taken at par orparallel to the employees of other Departments Ministries in the Province or atthe Federal level.
6. It wasvehemently, contended at the bar that the Judges do dictate lengthy judgments,determining highly complicated and controversial issues while theirstaff/establishment do write the judgments in each case. In many cases,judgments are drawn late at night either in the chamber or at homes of theHon’ble Judges by the establishment/staff.
7. The next limb ofthe submission was that preparation of decree-sheets, preparing and process ofnotices, institutions and receiving of fresh cases in hundreds are entered indifferent Registers maintained therefor under the Rules and it is a matter ofjudicial notice that in majority of cases several respondents are impleaded,thus, for each one separate notice is prepared with full address and parentage.On delivery to the Executing Agency these are again entered in the relevantRegisters besides, daily cause lists are prepared according to the rosters.Proper table/chart are maintained for the institution and disposal of cases ondaily basis. Numerous witnesses are examined in each case on day to day basis,volumes of evidence is dictated and taken for hours and after necessarycorrections, at the conclusion, these are signed and stamped by the PresidingOfficers. It was further submitted that the learned members of the Bar, thelitigants and the general public are fully cognizant and well aware of thisfact, an undeniable one. The case and Court management is an additional oneroustask they do perform with utmost care and diligence on daily basis.
8. It was alsourged with vehemence that to eradicate corruption from the judicial system, atall levels, is the pressing demand of the public at large, however, if theseemployees are not adequately compensated according to the Job description andduration of hard working hours then, being human, they may become susceptibleto dip their hands in the dirty, dust of corruption. That would certainly be adoom day for the State and the nation if the judicature becomes corrupt, beingwell serving linchpin ‘for the State and State authorities. Such dilemma wouldplay havoc with the fate and destiny of the State and all our dreams would gointo the whirlwind.
9. It was furtherurged that the nature of duty of the Judicial Officers and establishment/staffis not only complex but is also of multiple nature, the same is not confined topure judicial matters but they do perform delicate and effective administrativeduties of different natures, interacting with various Departments/Ministries incases before them. All of them are under unbearable heavy burden and areworking under a sky load, stress and strain. They are burning their blood tillmid night when the others are resting. They cannot well attend the needs andrequirements of their families and children.
10. It was in thisbackdrop that a foreign funding body realized and timely judged to prevent thecollapse of the State. The Asian Development Bank came up with an offer toextend and provide a huge sum of soft loan for raising judicial infrastructure,to impart training and high skill to all these officers/staff for channelisingand streamlining speedy dispensation of justice. The MOU signed by theGovernment of Pakistan and the Bank was followed by jointdeclarations/commitments of all the four Provincial Governments and the FederalGovernment to bear all the running expenditure after consumption of the loanamount on planned and proposed projects.
11. It was alsourged with vehemence that these Judicial Officers and the establishment / staffof the High Court are being regularly kept under strict vigilance and controlto guard against corrupt practices. In these circumstances, it has becomeimpossible for them to live with dignity and honour. The Constitution and thelaw of the land has placed the judicature at a very high pedestal. The Islamicinjunctions, practice and procedure have also bestowed them with greaterdignity. The Caliph was made answerable before the “Qazi”/Court. TheNew Judicial Policy made and put into practice by the (NJPMC) with the objectto counter the backlog crises, the capacity build up and skill management ofCourt affairs, extensive training and cases beyond any doubt has producedextraordinary positive results, however, the Judicial statistics issued andpublished by the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan under caption Access toJustice Program (AJP) would show that Court litigations have increased 2000%(two thousand percent) while under the AJP the strength of Judicial Officers atDistrict level and that of the establishment of the High Court has beenenhanced at the rate of 5% to 10% entirely insufficient to cope with the risingphenomena of litigations because of enormous increase in population, indisputes over properties, in trade & commerce and industries, in crimes ofdifferent categories, the irregularities committed by the State functionarieswhile dealing with citizens rights. The doing of administrative Justice byExecutive limb has almost reduced to naught and this way even for settlement ofnegligible and petty disputes, the citizens are unwisely shown the doors of theCourts.
Few years back,when the backlog crises had assumed the monster status, these Judicial Officerswhile strictly adhering to the New Judicial Policy at cost of their health,comfort and many risks while swiftly countering it with all odds have producedunbelievably positive results and admirable achievements. Not only the arrearshave been reduced but also freshly instituted cases are decided speedily. Thefollowing table of statistics is a telling testimony to the above facts:–
Total pending instituted and decided cases in all district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the year 1-1-2004 to 31-12-2004.
Pending on 31-12-2003
159039
Instituted from 1-1-2004 to 31-12-2004
397894
Total for Disposal.
556929
Decided cases during the said period.
403288
Balance/Pending
153643
The statisticspublished in the year, 2008 are as follows:–
Pending on 1-1-2008
182883
Instituted from 1-1-2008 to 31-12-2008
367600
Total for disposal
550483
Decided cases during the said period.
364882
Balance/Pending
185601
The disposal ofcases during the period from 1-1-2008 to 31-12-2008 has shown a negligible downtrend, however, the decrease is exclusively attributable to the GeneralElections of 2007-2008 ultimately held in February, 2008. All the JudicialOfficers and its staff remained attached with election duties for more than 3/4months as the earlier scheduled date of election was changed due to tragicdeath of late “Muhtarma Benazir Bhutto” otherwise, the disposal musthave been much higher than the previous year.
14. It was due tothe above ironclad undeniable facts that the petitioners have sought the prayedrelief. The learned counsel for the petitioners further contended that underthe same Judicial Policy, the petitioners have given much better results then thoseof the other Provinces. Despite this fact, the Governments of Punjab and Sindhhave increased Judicial allowance of similarly placed officers / officials muchearlier, then denying the same relief to the petitioners by the ProvincialGovernment is an- act or omission firmly by the prohibitory command containingin Article 25 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973.
When this petitioncame up for hearing on 11-5-2010 before the Bench, headed by Hon’ble the ChiefJustice, an objection was raised by the respondent-side that being a member ofNJPMC his lordship could not hear the same, thus, it was placed before thisBench.
15. Initially; asevident from their written replies, the respondents contested the petition,however, on 25-5-2010 when the learned counsel and legal advisor representingthe respondents was apprised of the legal and factual position and the matterwas deliberated upon in the Court, they candidly agreed to negotiate the matterwith a team to be constituted by Hon’ble the Chief Justice of the High Court toreach at a reasonable settlement, hence, the case was posted to 2-6-2010.-
16. On the posteddate i.e. 2-6-2010 it was stated that negotiation was held between the twoteams, however, they could not reach at a proper settlement.
17. Once again, thelegal advisor and the learned counsel of the respondents were impressed upon torealize the sensitivity and urgency of the subject matter and that theirapproach should be more realistic, logical and liberal. The outmoded bureaucratictactics could not be allowed to be super imposed or to override the principlesof law and justice. The annual budget allocations were also discussed, besidesthe revenue generated/collected by the Provincial Judiciary for the Governmentin many areas. Once again, the respondents requested for short time/opportunityto renegotiate the matter with’ the Administrative Officers of the High Court,probably by then, they had received the nod from the high-ups to settle thematter. They further stated at the bar of having/possessing full authority andconsent of the Competent Authority to negotiate the settlement with theestablishment of the High Court. At this juncture, it was also suggested tothem that the insurgency hit Province is facing financial and economicalproblems, therefore, some areas can be taxed by it with Court fee which includeTax References, Writ Petitions, Corporate Law cases, Banking and Company cases,however, this process must be taken and concluded by the two teams, so that, thepublic at large is not unnecessarily burdened and taxed with extra expenditurein seeking justice. To this, they whole heartedly agreed and appreciated thesuggestion and promised that the matter would be settled amicably without anypinch of salt, therefore, the petition was once again posted for 15-6-2010.
18. On 15-6-2010proposals/formula was placed before the Court, agreed upon by both the teams,however, for the third time another opportunity was sought because according tothe legal advisor and the learned counsel of the ‘respondents, summary wasalready put up before the Competent Authority for approval which, in theirview, will consume some time, copy of the same is placed on file. According toproposal at serial No.2, the Government/respondents have agreed to-enhance theSpecial Judicial Allowance equal to one initial basic pay plus 50% of therunning basic pay with arrears of one initial pay but with effect from 1stJuly, 2010.
19. Once again thecase was adjourned because the proposal was to receive the final approval ofthe Competent Authority i.e. the Chief Minister of the Province, who was awayfrom the Provincial Headquarter and because the learned counsel for thepetitioners under instruction, was unwilling to give up claim relief soughtrelating to arrears of the past period.
20. On theadjourned date i.e. 6-7-2010, the Secretary Finance of the ProvincialGovernment stated before the Court that the Competent Authority has approvedthe suggested agreed formula but arrears for one year from 1st July, 2009 couldnot be arranged due to financial constraints. This somersault and retrace madeby the respondents was not acceptable to the petitioners, therefore, the Courtwas constrained to pass a short order on 6-7-2010, allowing formula/proposalNo.2 which includes arrears for one year i.e. from 1st July 2009 to 30th June2010, however, to provide a pause and breathing space to the Government, it wasdirected that the amount of arrears be paid in two instalments. The first one shallbe paid in the first week of September along with monthly salary of August,2010 and the second instalment shall be paid in the first week of January, 2011along with monthly salary of December, 2010. The respondents and their legaladvisor/learned counsel were also directed to sit with the team of experts ofthe establishment of the High Court to search for ways and means, as to whattype of petitions, appeals etc. shall be taxed with court-fee to generate areasonable amount of revenue for the public exchequer without placing burden onthe public at large/genuinely aggrieved litigants.
21. The framer ofthe Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973 by inserting variousArticles in it guaranteed and had ensured the complete independence of Judiciaryin very firm words. The sole object behind it was to enable it to dispensejustice without fear and favour. The entire superior judiciary was put intocorrect channels in the matter of elevation of Judges and their emoluments,pension and privileges. An inbuilt mechanism was invented for elevation ofJudges for the superior judiciary through consultative process, however, whenat some time political interference and bureaucratic onslaught on superiorJudiciary became the order of the day,the apex Court was constrained to counter the brunt. In Al-Jehad Trust’s casePLD 1996 SC 324 it was held in unequivocal terms that the recommendations ofthe Chief Justice shall be binding on the President. No deviation therefrom waspermissible nor it could be disregarded unless strong and sound reasons arerecorded therefor. This judgment, a hallmark in the judicial history ofPakistan, plugged and thwarted all attempts of invasions made on the judiciary,the borderline for the relevant authorities fixed by the Constitution waselaborately explained and determined once for all.
22. Under Article175(3) of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, it is clearlylaid down with strong commitments given by the then constituent Assembly thatthe Judiciary shall be separated from the Executive at all levels and it wouldbe made independent in all aspects within a prescribed period of five (05)years. This was indeed a sincere and laudable effort on the part of theconstituent Assembly for securing national interest. This cherished goal couldnot be achieved due to political unrest as an aftermath of fresh election heldfor the Parliament and for the four Provincial Assemblies in 1977 and the thenChief of Army Staff toppled the democratic government and trampled theConstitution under his heavy boots. He imposed Martial Law and abrogated theConstitution/held it in abeyance. A well devised deceptive promise was madewith the Nation that general election would be held within ninety (90) days,however, as was perceived the dictator did not honour his commitments, he hasmade with the nation and usurped the powers of all organs of the State for morethan ten (10) years till he met an unnatural death in an air crash.
23. During theperiod of Martial Law, for ulterior motives, the short period prescribed forseparation of Judiciary from the Executive was extended to fifteen (15) years.
24. When the wilfuldesire of the nation to see the Judiciaryindependent and the command of the Constitution in this regard was out asideeven by the successive elected Governments, the State and the nation thus, wereexposed to potential danger of misrule, the Hon’ble apex Court left with no 2ndoption, in Sharaf Faridi’s case (PLD 1994 SC 105) while endorsing the view heldby the Hon’ble Sindh High Court gave a firm time frame to all the Governmentsfor separation of Judiciary from the Executive, at all levels. The apex Courtfurther directed that financial independence shall be given to the judiciary.This historical judgment also brought to end the dependence of judiciary infinancial matters on the Executive limb of the State. The judgment was giveneffect .in all the four Provinces and the commitments given at the bar by allthe Provincial Governments were put into practice on the target date.
25. On the strengthof this high profile judgment of the Hon’ble apex court, separate cadre wasestablished/created for the District Judiciary. The Governor of N.-W.F.P., videNotification No.SOR-IV(E&AD)/3-11/2001 while exercising his powers undersection 26 of the Provincial Civil Servants Act, 1973 read with CabinetDivision, Government of Pakistan’s Notification No.SOR 475(1)/2001 dated 28thJune, 2001 framed and promulgated Rules, prescribing the terms and conditionsof service and regulating recruitment to Judicial Service. Under thenotification, the entire powers and Authority was surrendered to the ChiefJustice/Administration Committee of the High Court.
26. After cominginto force of these Rules, the Judiciary at the District level was freed fromthe claws of the crab after a long battle for twenty or more years and themajesty of law was retrieved.
27. On thefinancial side, the High Courts and the Apex Court were allocated separatebudgets with financial independence investing Authority in the Chief JusticeAdministration Committee, as drawing and disbursing officer, to allocate orreallocate fund for any project or purpose without the prior sanction of theFinancial Managers of the Provinces or the Federal Government. To this effectNotification No.SO(A/Cs) FD/2-1/93 dated 8–10-1995 was issued, relaxing thedelegation of powers under the Financial Rules and the powers ofRe-appropriation Rules, 1981. The Chief Justice was empowered to sanctionexpenditure on any item from the allocated budget to create new posts andabolish old posts, to change nomenclature and upgrade down-grade any post,however, the expenditure is to be met from within the overall allocated budgetof the High Court. The amended Notification of the Finance Department to thiseffect is No.SO(A/Cs)FD/2-1/96 dated 7-12-1996. The Registrar of the High Court was further empowered to makeappointments to the post in BPS-01 to 16 borne on the establishment of thePeshawar High Court.
28. A proviso toRule-4 was added whereunder, the Chief Justice of the High Court was investedwith powers and Authority as a head of Administrative Department i.e. the HighCourt/District Judiciary.
The above narrationof facts shall not be construed as an attempt that history is being retold.Through these remarks, we intend to tell those who unreasonably grudge thejudiciary, its servants and officers fully knowing the facts highlighted above.
29. In Paras-13 and14 of the judgment we have pointed out that litigations of different kinds haveincreased many folds. Daily cause-list of every Court is so congested that onlooking do not believe that the Judge and the staff would be able to exhaustthe same but the weekly, monthly, periodical and annual computerized statementswould show that the disposal of cases by each Judge is almost 200% over andabove than which were decided or disposed of ten (10) years back. In this way,the Judicial Officers of the District Judiciary and the Establishment/Staff ofthe High Court remains under unbearable stress and strain to cope with thechallenging task of arresting the backlog crises. They are indeed deliveringjustice at much higher speed. The speedy disposal of cases at the districtlevel has opened flood gate of inflows for the High Court and the result isthat the Judges and the staff in High Court do work from morning till 8-00 or9-00 P.M.
30. It is theconstitutional obligation of the Government. to provide speedy and inexpensivejustice to the people. All the Judges, like the petitioners and theircolleagues, and establishment/staff of the High Court are matchlesslyconfronting the phenomena without any let and lose, however, they are not paidthe emoluments/salaries and allowances according to the cumbersome job done andaccording to their duration of working hours, as stated above, therefore, theinaction on the part of the Provincial Government for the last more than oneyear, not enhancing the judicial allowance, it has now agreed to enhance, was agrave omission on its part and the petitioners and others alike were grosslydiscriminated as the same were enhanced in the other two Provinces, C muchearlier without the intervention of the High Court. The Asian Development Bankhas highlighted on its website that under the Access to Justice Program thePeshawar High Court and the District Judiciary of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa hasexcellently achieved the target by deciding huge number of old ‘cases. Thismessage with commendable remarks alone was enough for the Provincial Governmentto have taken timely steps much prior to the other Provinces, providing theincentives for infusing new spirit in the Judicial Officers and the Staff ofthe High Court to do more. Such action would have produced more positiveeffects by compensating these devoted hard workers on one hand and thwartingany one in the cadre to indulge in corruption. In our view, the Executive limbmore particularly the Financial Managers of the Province were jealouslythwarting the process and was putting a wrong picture before the democraticallyelected Government. Probably, it was, for this reason that the matter wasdelayed. This fact was more perceivable during the hearing of this petition atdifferent occasion, as we closely watched them and their antecedents in thisregard.
31. Despite ofthese omissions, we arc constrained to appreciate the elected Government ofKhyber Pakhtunkhwa for agreeing to thenegotiated formula, without much reluctance, initially exhibited by theAdministrative Secretaries and their Advisors. In our view, probably, the ChiefExecutive of the Province, the head of elected government, was improperlybriefed rather misguided by vested interest, however, when the ground realitieswere discovered, the agreed formula/settlement was thus materialized.
32. As thepetitioners and others alike have worked hard day and night for more than twoyears for longer duration much beyond the office working hours required by thelaw, but they were not compensated therefor, in the circumstances, it is highlyjustifiable to grant the petitioners and others alike, including theestablishment/staff of the High Court one year arrears of the enhanced SpecialJudicial Allowance on the pattern and in the manner elaborately mentioned inour short order. of the even date which shall be treated as part of thisdetailed judgment. The same is reproduced below for the sack of convenience:
“For the detailed reasons to be recorded later, this petition ispartially allowed. The respondents (Provincial Government of KhyberPakhtunkhwa) is issued a writ, directing it to pay Special Judicial Allowanceon the basis of one initial basic pay plus 50% of running basic pay witharrears of one initial pay but from 1st July, 2009 to all the Judicial Officersof the District Judiciary including those working on ex-cadre posts which shallinclude the District and Sessions Judges, Additional District & SessionsJudges, Senior Civil Judges/Special Magistrates and all CivilJudges/Magistrates working under the control and jurisdiction of the PeshawarHigh Court, Peshawar.
(2) Similarly, the Establishmentof the Peshawar High Court, Peshawar is also granted the same relief as is allowedthrough this order to the Judicial Officers referred to. above and in the samemanner/way.
Keeping in view the plea of financial constraints of the ProvincialGovernment, we further direct that the arrears from 1st July, 2009 to 30thJune. 2010 shall be paid in two instalments, i.e. the 1st one shall be paidalong with the monthly salary of August, 2010 in the first week of September,2010 and the second half of the amount/instalment be paid in the 1st week ofJanuary, 2011 with the monthly pay of December, 2010.
(3) We further direct therespondents, particularly, the Establishment Department/Ministry, the FinanceDepartment/Ministry, the Law Department/Ministry and the learnedAdvocate-General of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to sit with the team ofexperts/Administrative Officers including the Registrar of the High Court ‘toinvent ways and means, to ascertain the areas where Court Fee on certainPetitions, Appeals, Revisions, Tax References, Review Petitions, Suits, ProcessFee and on other alike matters can be reasonably levied and/or enhanced withoutburdening and taxing the poor litigants or the public-at-large. Further toraise the existing slab of Court Fee on different kind of cases/petitions to areasonable extent not because the Province is suffering due to financial crisesin view of the peculiar circumstances but also because that the local currency has constantlyshown down trend due to depreciation and devaluation vis-a-vis foreign currencyparticularly, US $, the main source of exchange with it. No deviationfrom this order shall be made by the respondents in any manner whatsoever andon any pretext.”
33. The Registrar,Peshawar High Court, shall intimate in writing all the above Departments/Ministries an appropriatedate for a joint meeting/meetings on the issue of levying and raising Court feeon the specified cases/petitions etc. and the process shall be taken to alogical conclusion.
NOTE: In this judgment the expression District andSessions Judges, Additional District and Sessions Judges, Senior Civil Judges, SpecialMagistrates and Civil Judges-cum-Judicial Magistrates shall include all gradesof Qazies, Izafi Zilla Qazies and Illaqa Qazies serving in PATA etc.
S.A.K./39/P Orderaccordingly.