Chief Justice Yahya Afridi Relinquishes Bench-Fixation Power in Major Judicial Reform

Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi has surrendered the Chief Justice's unilateral authority to schedule court hearings, launching an automated and publicly accessible Case Fixation Policy. To tackle a docket backlog exceeding 59,000 pending cases, the Supreme Court of Pakistan is also establishing evening judicial benches dedicated to hearing long-delayed civil and constitutional matters.

Surrendering the Master of the Roster Discretion

For decades, the title of Master of the Roster granted the Chief Justice of Pakistan absolute authority to decide which judges heard specific cases and when those matters reached the courtroom. That administrative lever often triggered political friction, allegations of bench-packing, and public distrust in judicial neutrality. On September 14, 2026, Chief Justice Yahya Afridi formally dismantled that centralized control mechanism.

Addressing the legal community and judicial staff, Chief Justice Afridi confirmed that the Supreme Court's Case Fixation Policy had been published directly on the official web portal. Under this computerized system, cases move automatically onto court rosters based on objective criteria—such as institution date, case category, urgency, and judicial availability—rather than individual discretion.

"The case fixation policy has been placed on the web portal," Chief Justice Afridi stated during the announcement. "Now, even on my own personal request, no case can be fixed outside the established criteria."

This institutional self-limitation represents a departure from past administrative practice. By eliminating manual intervention in docket management, the apex court aims to prevent preferential scheduling for high-profile political litigants while ordinary citizens wait years for routine appellate hearings.

The Night Shift: Evening Benches to Address Docket Congestion

Removing administrative bias solves only one half of the Supreme Court's crisis; the other half is sheer capacity. With tens of thousands of appeals, petitions, and constitutional references accumulating over decades, standard morning court hours have proven insufficient to lower the backlog.

To expand judicial throughput without compromising hearing quality, Chief Justice Afridi announced the creation of evening judicial benches. These secondary shifts will operate during afternoon and evening hours, specifically targeted at clearing routine civil disputes, old bail applications, and service matters that clog the daily Cause List.

The operational framework for evening benches relies on rotating double and triple benches, allowing judges to divide their duties between morning constitutional hearings and evening appellate dockets. The Supreme Court Registry is upgrading lighting, security, and digital transcription infrastructure across its Islamabad building to support late-hour operations.

For litigants traveling across provinces—from rural Sindh, southern Punjab, and Balochistan—the addition of afternoon and evening hearings offers immediate relief. Previously, an adjourned case meant spending days in Islamabad waiting for the next day's supplemental roster. Scheduled evening shifts provide predictable timetables, reducing travel costs and legal fees for ordinary citizens.

Institutionalizing Transparency Through Digital Roster Management

Publishing the roster management code online converts docket scheduling from a black-box operation into a verifiable public audit trail. Lawyers and litigants can now track their position on the digital queue, seeing precisely why a case moved forward or why a hearing date shifted.

The digital policy sets strict parameters for emergency hearings and out-of-turn fixations. Requests for early hearings must now pass through an automated committee verification system rather than a direct verbal order to the Registrar. If an application fails to meet predetermined criteria for genuine emergency status, the software automatically rejects the priority override.

This shift aligns Pakistan's apex court with modern international judicial standards, where case assignment relies on automated algorithms to ensure equal protection under procedural law. By binding his own office to the same rules that govern every legal team in the country, Chief Justice Yahya Afridi has established a legal precedent for administrative accountability that lower courts across the country will be forced to emulate.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the new Case Fixation Policy introduced by CJP Yahya Afridi?

The Case Fixation Policy is a computerized, transparent system published on the Supreme Court website that automatically schedules cases based on objective rules rather than discretionary orders from the Chief Justice.

Why is the Supreme Court establishing evening judicial benches?

Evening benches are designed to clear Pakistan's massive backlog of over 59,000 pending cases by adding dedicated afternoon and evening hearing shifts for routine civil and constitutional matters.

Can the Chief Justice still manually fast-track a specific court case?

No, Chief Justice Yahya Afridi explicitly confirmed that under the new digital policy, even the Chief Justice cannot manually bypass the automated criteria to schedule a case.