Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Gulzar Ahmed on Wednesday decided to hear the corruption cases on urgent basis and ordered the establishment of 120 new accountability courts in the country.

According to 24NewsHD TV channel, the chief justice ordered the law secretary to establish these new courts after taking directions from the relevant authorities. These courts should be set up in four months. Judges should also be appointed during this time, the CJP said.

The top judge was hearing a case on illegal appointments in a coal mining plant when he expressed his displeasure over NAB’s performance. He remarked the NAB cases were meant to be solved in 30 days but some cases have been pending for 20 years. “What’s the point of the Bureau and its laws when it can’t even implement them?”

Chief Justice Gulzar also ordered deciding the corruption cases and pending NAB references within three months, as he directed the attorney general, law secretary and NAB prosecutor general to appear in person on next hearing.

He also sought proposals from the NAB chairman on how to decide the pending references at the earliest. The very purpose of NAB law would be lost if the trial under a reference isn’t completed swiftly, the chief justice remarked.

The country’s top judge observed that 1,226 NAB reference were currently pending which should be decided within 30 days. It seemed it would take a century to complete the trial of 1,226 references, he remarked.

Why the NAB references are not being decided, he questioned and added that the cases were pending or under trial for 20 years.

Why the NAB courts shouldn’t be shut and the law declared unconstitutional, said the chief justice and remarked that the NAB as an institution wasn’t functioning.

Chief Justice Gulzar also ordered the immediate appointment of judges in five accountability courts and warned that a strict action would be taken in case of not complying with the directives.