Federal government is reported to have finalized its plans for the establishment of 120 accountability courts in the country.
According to details, the Ministry of Law and Justice is said to have finalized its plan for the establishment of 120 accountability courts across country on the directions of Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC).
“The federal government has been vigorously focusing to expedite the process of accountability across the board, for which these additional accountability courts would be established,” read the statement issued by the ministry.
As of now, there are only 24 accountability courts in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Lahore, Multan, Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur and Quetta.
Such low number of accountability courts have resulted in slow progress of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) cases.
As per the ministry’s own report, a total of 975 corruption cases were pending in 24 accountability courts in the country, whereas earlier NAB submitted its report in SC stating that 1,226 cases are pending.
Around Rs 2.86 billion per year are required to establish 120 accountability courts, said the law ministry’s report.
It is to be noted that SC on July 8th had directed federal government to address the issue of ‘vacant’ accountability courts and establish another 120 to ensure timely conclusion of pending cases.
“The strength of accountability court all over Pakistan shall immediately be increased by the government in order to ensure that all the pending accountability cases come to their logical conclusion at fast pace and at least within three months time,” read the SC order.
