LHC moved over delay in setting up constitutional benches

A constitutional petition has been lodged with the Lahore High Court (LHC) demanding the swift operationalization of constitutional benches, as mandated by Article 202A of the Constitution. The petition, brought forth by Azhar Siddique, chairman of the Judicial Activism Panel, names the federation, the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan, and the National Judicial (Policy-Making) Committee (NJPMC) among the respondents.

Siddique contends that despite the 26th Amendment in 2024, which aimed to establish these specialized benches, only the Sindh High Court has made substantial progress. Litigants in other high courts, including Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, and Balochistan, are reportedly subjected to an unequal "two-track" system of constitutional justice, where their cases are heard by ordinary benches instead of the specialized ones intended by law.

The petition further challenges the practice of the LHC's case-filing branch raising preliminary objections on issues like maintainability and jurisdiction. The petitioner argues that such administrative screening constitutes an unconstitutional barrier to justice, as these are judicial matters that should be decided by judges, not registry officials. This move comes amid a severe crisis in Pakistan's judiciary, with a significant number of sanctioned high court judge posts remaining vacant, exacerbating a backlog of nearly 200,000 cases at the LHC alone.