The Supreme Court (SC) has directed the federal government to make 30 new accountability courts functional within a month.
Hearing a case on Tuesday, the Supreme Court took notice of the vacant post of a permanent law secretary and directed the federal government to make the appointment.
Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed remarked that the Ministry of Law could not be run on an ad hoc basis. He directed the federal government to make 30 new accountability court functional in a month.
The Chief Justice questioned the reason for delaying the establishment of the accountability courts in the country.
The additional attorney general told the court that an approval has been given by the Finance Ministry and Establishment Division, whereas recruitment process for the staff will commence from January 11.
The Chief Justice also questioned about the progress of the accountability courts. To this, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor said that testimonies of 18 out of 29 witnesses have been recorded in Lakhra power plant corruption, whereas the institution had decided not to record statements of seven witnesses.
The prosecutor detailed that in the case, overall 29 hearings have been conducted so far and only one adjournment was sought by the institution as the prosecutor contracted Covid-19. He added that the accused sought adjournment of the hearings many times in the case.
The top court directed the accountability court in Karachi to give its verdict within one month in the Lakhra power plant corruption case. The Chief Justice has also sought progress reports from the federal government and the anti-corruption watchdog.
Later, the top court adjourned the hearing till the second week of February.
A progress report was submitted by the Ministry of Law and Justice to the Supreme Court (SC), which stated that 30 new accountability courts will be established in the first phase. It added that the Finance Ministry had given approval to the expenditures of staff for the new courts and the recruitment process will be completed this month.
The apex court directed the Law Ministry to submit another progress report in the second week of February regarding the completion of the first phase.
In July last year, Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed had directed the formation of 120 new accountability courts for early decisions on pending accountability cases.
