Law and order problem

Supreme Court lawyers are energetic about moving applications to expedite the hearing of their years-old cases, and charge clients for that service, but when the appeals are finally listed, the lawyers on both sides are nowhere to be found. This was the experience of two judges on Wednesday. Twenty appeals were listed for a final hearing, but when these were taken up, the lawyers relating to 17 appeals were missing. The secretary of the Bar association told the peeved judges that the display boards showing the cases before the court were defective, but the judges were not convinced, as lawyers are given a notice several days in advance. The secretary has now written to the members saying this "callous" conduct is not only a grave injustice to the litigants, "but also shows our courts in extremely poor light internationally".