40 judges of LHC issued 510 judgments became precedents in 2023

Lahore High Court: A Year of Judicial Precedents and Pending Cases

The Lahore High Court (LHC) has issued 510 judgments in the year 2023 that became judicial precedents.

However, the court also faced a huge backlog of more than 200,000 cases, as the shortage of 20 judges could not be resolved for the last 18 months. More than 150,000 petitioners approached the LHC for redress of their grievances, but many of them could not get timely justice.

The LHC bench comprised 40 judges, headed by Chief Justice Muhammad Amir Bhatti, who gave only three precedential decisions during the year. The most prolific judges in terms of reported judgments were Justice Anwar Hussain and Justice Jawad Hassan, who gave 36 and 35 decisions respectively. Justice Shahid Bilal Hasan, Justice Mirza Waqas Rauf and Justice Muhammad Sajid Mehmood Sethi also gave more than 25 reported judgments each.

Justice Jawad Hassan gave judicial precedents in 35 cases and Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh gave judicial precedent in 33 cases.

Nine decisions of Justice Shujaat Ali Khan and 6 decisions of Justice Ali Baqer Najafi were declared judicial precedents.

12 decisions of Justice Asim Hafeez, 13 of Justice Sadiq Mahmood Khurram, 28 of Justice Muhammad Amjad Rafiq, 36 of Justice Anwar Hussain were declared as judicial precedents.

Justice Ali Zia Bajwa issued 5 judicial precedents, Justice Sultan Tanveer Ahmed issued 16, and Justice Raheel Kamran Shaikh issued 20 judicial precedents.

Justice Shahid Bilal Hasan gave 35 reported judgments, Justice Miss Alia Neelam gave 16, and Justice Abid Aziz Shaikh gave 15 reported judgments.

During the year 2023, Justice Shahid Jameel Khan gave 13, Justice Shahid Karim 11, Justice Mirza Waqas Rauf 25, and Justice Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal gave 16 reported judgments.

Justice Muhammad Sajid Mehmood Sethi gave 27 decisions, Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar gave 10 decisions.

Justice Muzamil Akhtar Shabbir gave 15 decisions, Justice Muhammad Waheed Khan 30, Justice Risal Hasan Syed gave 14 decisions and Justice Asjad Javed Gharal gave 8 decisions.

Some of the notable judicial precedents issued by the LHC in 2023 were:

- Justice Shujaat Ali Khan declared that the appointment of a person as a judge of a high court or the Supreme Court cannot be challenged on the grounds of his or her personal conduct or character unless there is clear evidence of misconduct or corruption.

- Justice Ali Baqer Najafi ruled that the right to fair trial under Article 10-A of the Constitution includes the right to cross-examine the witnesses against the accused, and that any conviction based on untested evidence is liable to be set aside.

- Justice Shahid Karim held that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has no jurisdiction to investigate or prosecute offences relating to taxation, customs, excise or revenue, as these are exclusively within the domain of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

- Justice Miss Alia Neelam declared that a woman has the right to choose her spouse without any coercion or interference from her family or society, and that any attempt to deprive her of this right is a violation of her fundamental rights and human dignity.

- Justice Abid Aziz Shaikh upheld the constitutional validity of the Punjab Local Government Act 2019, and directed the provincial government to hold local body elections within six months.

The LHC also dealt with several important cases involving public interest, human rights, constitutional matters and criminal justice. Some of these cases are still pending before the court, awaiting final verdicts.

The LHC also faced some challenges and controversies during the year, such as the allegations of misconduct against some judges, the clash between lawyers and police at the LHC premises, and the criticism from some quarters over judicial activism and interference in executive affairs.