Consumer courts cease operations
Judges serving in these courts have been reassigned and instructed to report to the Lahore High Court (LHC), with a formal notification of their transfers already issued.
Effective Tuesday, July 29, all special consumer courts throughout the province have ceased operations. Permanent staff are being transferred to other courts and government departments, while all contractual and temporary personnel have been terminated.
Province-wide, a total of 1,682 cases were under adjudication in these courts. The Special Consumer Court in Rawalpindi alone had 97 pending cases.
According to court officials in Rawalpindi, all active cases are being transferred to the office of the District and Sessions Judge. A comprehensive list, along with case files, is being prepared and will be submitted within the next two days.
Following this, the District and Sessions Judge will reassign the cases to the relevant Additional Sessions Judges for further legal proceedings.
Consumer rights protection courts were established across Punjab in 2006, following the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act in 2005. However, in the new fiscal year 2025-26 budget, an amendment was introduced, and a revised act was passed, officially abolishing the status of special consumer courts.
Under the new amendment, consumer rights cases will now once again be heard by Additional District and Sessions Judges as part of the regular judicial system, as was the practice prior to the establishment of these special courts.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
5 days ago
- Express Tribune
LHC sets aside FIR order against Suleman Shehbaz
Chief Justice Aalia Neelum of the Lahore High Court (LHC) has set aside a district court's order directing the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's son, Suleman Shehbaz, in a cheque dishonour case. The high court held that the lower court failed to properly examine the facts of the matter. Suleman Shehbaz had challenged the July 10 order issued by the district judge, which instructed police to register an FIR against him on charges of issuing a bounced cheque. During the LHC proceedings, Suleman's counsel contended that the district court's decision was not only contrary to law but also passed without a proper review of the factual background. The respondent's counsel alleged that Suleman's company had purchased 17 laptops and issued a cheque for Rs 600,000 in payment, which was later dishonoured. However, Suleman's counsel countered that no laptops were ever delivered to the company's office. He further argued that the cheques in question were stolen by company employees and wrongfully handed over to the respondent. An FIR had already been registered against those individuals, he added. 'The company has no connection with these cheques,' the counsel asserted. Chief justice also questioned the respondent's legal team for failing to specify the date of the alleged laptop purchase. She noted that no purchase receipts bore any official stamp either. After hearing arguments from both sides, chief justice ruled in favour of the petitioner and annulled the district court's order.
Business Recorder
6 days ago
- Business Recorder
CCP decides 223 cases, slashes legal backlog by over 40%
The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) made significant progress in reducing its legal backlog and recovering penalties, as 223 cases have been decided, cutting the backlog by more than 40%. 'When the new management took charge in August 2023, the CCP faced 567 pending cases across different courts,' the CCP said in a statement on Wednesday. It said that the Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT) decided 121 cases out of 210, bringing down pendency by 58%. The Supreme Court decided 11 cases, while 171 cases challenging the CCP's mandate were clubbed for a single hearing. CCP says recovered Rs10mn penalty from PIA for 'abusing dominant position' The Lahore High Court decided 39 cases, reducing the backlog by 78%, while the Sindh High Court disposed of 40 cases, a 61% cut. Similarly, the Islamabad High Court decided 13 cases, lowering pendency by 43%. According to the statement, the resolution of cases has enabled the CCP to recover imposed penalties, and in the past year alone, the commission recovered Rs360 million, surpassing the total Rs201 million collected since its establishment in 2007. One of the landmark judgments was delivered by the SC in the Dalda Foods vs CCP case, which strengthened the CCP's enforcement capacity. Similarly, in a case on alleged cartelization in the poultry sector, the Lahore High Court upheld CCP's authority to pursue investigations into price-fixing, the CCP said.
Express Tribune
7 days ago
- Express Tribune
Consumer courts cease operations
The Punjab government has formally abolished all 17 district consumer courts that were established to safeguard consumer rights across the province. Judges serving in these courts have been reassigned and instructed to report to the Lahore High Court (LHC), with a formal notification of their transfers already issued. Effective Tuesday, July 29, all special consumer courts throughout the province have ceased operations. Permanent staff are being transferred to other courts and government departments, while all contractual and temporary personnel have been terminated. Province-wide, a total of 1,682 cases were under adjudication in these courts. The Special Consumer Court in Rawalpindi alone had 97 pending cases. According to court officials in Rawalpindi, all active cases are being transferred to the office of the District and Sessions Judge. A comprehensive list, along with case files, is being prepared and will be submitted within the next two days. Following this, the District and Sessions Judge will reassign the cases to the relevant Additional Sessions Judges for further legal proceedings. Consumer rights protection courts were established across Punjab in 2006, following the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act in 2005. However, in the new fiscal year 2025-26 budget, an amendment was introduced, and a revised act was passed, officially abolishing the status of special consumer courts. Under the new amendment, consumer rights cases will now once again be heard by Additional District and Sessions Judges as part of the regular judicial system, as was the practice prior to the establishment of these special courts.
