National Judicial Policy Making Council takes serious note of Corruption in Government Departments

The National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee (NJPMC) meeting held on 23rd June 2007 in the Supreme Court building here under the chairmanship of Justice Rana Bhagwandas, Acting Chief Justice of Pakistan/Chairman, NJPMC.

The meeting was attended by Justice Haziqul Khairi, Chief Justice, Federal Shariat Court; Justice lftikhar Husain Chaudhry, Chief Justice, Lahore High Court; Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed, Chief Justice, High Court of Sindh; Justice Tariq Parvez, Chief Justice, Peshawar High Court; Justice Amanullah Khan, Chief Justice, High Court of Balochistan; and Dr Faqir Hussain, Secretary, Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan/NJPMC.

The NJPMC considered the Report of Transparency International - Pakistan Chapter - on National Corruption Perception Survey 2006 in which the perception about corruption pertaining to 10 institutions/departments of the Government have been reported.

The NJPMC took serious note of the complaints of corruption in the judiciary, particularly among the judicial officers and courts' staff at the level of subordinate courts.

It also examined the perception of corruption prevalent in the related agencies, like Investigation Department, prosecution agency, etc, and resolved that corruption in any form or manifestation "is unacceptable, and has to be eradicated".

The NJPMC, therefore, directed that the said Report be forwarded to the High Courts for taking necessary measures to check corruption among the judicial officers as well as courts' staff and also in the personnel of related institutions. The High Courts will take further steps and plan strategies for taking disciplinary action against concerned officials and no leniency is to be shown to an official found indulging in corrupt practices .

Transparency International – Pakistan commends the action of the National Judicial Policy Making Committee, a step in the right direction to reduce corruption in the Country. TI-P believes that prevention of corruption should be the prime aim by the posting of all information on websites, access to information and the elimination of discretionary powers. TI-P offers its services to the committee and all other Government Departments to help formulate procedures to make their working transparent and free of corruption.

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