The Sindh government has abolished eight Anti-Terrorism Courts (ATCs) in Karachi and terminated the contracts of three ATC judges.
The cases pending before the dissolved courts have been transferred to other courts.
The courts that were abolished include Court Numbers 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 17, 18 and 19. ATC Court Number 4 also remains vacant in Karachi.
With these changes, eight Anti-Terrorism Courts in Karachi have been formally shut down, and the cases previously assigned to them have been moved to other judicial forums.
The Sindh government stated that the contracts of the three ATC judges were concluded because they had reached the upper age limit.
Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Courts were first established in 1997 following the enactment of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997, which was passed by the National Assembly on 20 August 1997 and later signed into law by President Farooq Leghari.
The framework was created to ensure the speedy trial of terrorism-related cases and scheduled offences.
Under the law, the federal government or a provincial government, when directed, may establish one or more anti-terrorism courts for any territorial jurisdiction as specified by the High Court.
