Supreme Court senior puisne judge Justice Mansoor Ali Shah was nominated as the chairman of the Alternate Dispute Resolution Committee on Wednesday by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi.
A notification from the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan, available with Dawn.com, said Justices Ayesha Malik and Shahid Waheed would be the other two members.
The move comes two days after a full court meeting of the Supreme Court adopted the Case Management Plan 2023 — a brainchild of Justice Shah — to address the growing backlog of cases in the top court.
The meeting, presided over by CJP Afridi, reviewed a one-month case management plan under the one devised by Justice Shah, which establishes clear standards and integrates information technology to effectively manage all categories of cases.
Convened by the CJP, the meeting was attended by all SC judges, including Justice Shah, who joined via video link from abroad.
The focus was to evaluate the Supreme Court’s performance in institution and disposal of cases, with an emphasis on reducing case backlog and improving judicial efficiency. Registrar Jazeela Aslam provided a comprehensive overview of the current caseload and outlined steps for timely case resolution.
The registrar presented updated statistics, showing that 59,191 cases were pending, and introduced the newly devised one-month plan based on the Case Management Plan 2023 prepared by Justice Shah. The plan includes setting clear standards and employing information technology to streamline case management across different categories.
Justice Shah proposed further strategies aimed at reducing the case backlog and enhancing procedural efficiency, initially through the one-month plan, followed by three-month and six-month plans.
Since assuming office, CJP Afridi has constituted a new three-judge committee under the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act (SCPPA) 2023, comprising Justice Shah and Justice Munib Akhtar.
The constitution of the three-judge committee, as done by the new CJP, is being seen as a significant move as it was this issue which led to the acrimony between the Supreme Court judges and former CJP Qazi Faez Isa.
