In the beginning of 2022, the Islamabad High Court surprised the people of Pakistan by opening their courts in the middle of the night at 2 a.m. to deliberate over an important case submitted. The esteemed judge had even highlighted the fact that the judiciary does not have any specific timing in the Constitution of Pakistan, and it is the choice of the judiciary to work day and night to provide justice to the people of Pakistan.

After such a historic stance by the Judiciary, the three-month summer holiday for the Judiciary seems a deliberate waste of time. During the summers, when schools and colleges are closed across Pakistan, the judiciary also decides to close justice in Pakistan for three months.

It makes no sense for the judiciary in Pakistan to have three months of summer vacation. The court system has facilities to work in the summer, while the Islamabad High Court has also shown that courts can work in the evening and at night to avoid high temperatures during the day.

Therefore, the people of Pakistan and the lawyers’ community should request the judiciary to revise their annual three-month summer holiday. Why should access to justice be curtailed for three months each year in Pakistan? Why cannot the judiciary work in the summers or evenings when other governmental organisations like the police, WAPDA, WSSP, etc. have shown to do so? Does the constitution of Pakistan allow the judiciary to stop dispensing justice for three months each year?

M.B KHAN,

Peshawar.