In Punjab, 768 judges support double shifts, while 979 oppose them.

In Punjab, 768 judges have accepted a proposal for 24-hour court proceedings, while 979 have rejected it.

Yahya Afridi, the Chief Justice of Pakistan and Chairman of the National Judicial Policy Making Committee, proposed double shifts in Punjab’s lower courts in order to clear the backlog of more than 1.4 million cases that are still pending.

The Lahore High Court’s Director General of District Judiciary then sent a direction to all Punjabi session judges.

The judges’ reports indicate that there are 1,747 judges in Punjab’s subordinate judiciary. Of these, 979 judges have stated that they are unable to participate, while 44% (768 judges) have agreed to longer court hours. There are now 981 civil judges, 110 senior civil judges, 504 extra district and session judges, and 152 district and session judges in the province. There are also still more than 700 open judge vacancies.

Chief Justice Yahya Afridi has received the reports from the judges from the DG District Judiciary. Following consultation with bar associations and other interested parties, a final decision will be taken.