Islamabad, 14 September, 2026 (Kamran Raja): Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Yahya Afridi has announced the formation of evening judicial benches to hear applications seeking early hearings and help reduce the backlog of pending cases. Addressing a full court meeting, Chief Justice Yahya Afridi said the case-fixing policy had been made available online and no case was now fixed even on his personal direction. He rejected the perception that judges take three months of leave, clarifying that judges take only one month’s leave during a three-month period. The chief justice said as many as 75 cases had been fixed before a single bench in one day, while two officers recheck the cases included in the cause list. Justice Yahya Afridi said a separate bench was being constituted to hear applications seeking early hearings and that the bench would also sit in the evening to dispose of such cases. He further announced that the Shariat Appellate Bench would sit for one week every two months. The measures are aimed at facilitating the early disposal of cases, reducing the backlog and improving the overall efficiency of judicial proceedings.