LHC CJ halts purchase of new IT equipment for district courts

LAHORE: Taking notice of unnecessary expenses, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Aalia Neelum has ordered withdrawal of an earlier notification issued for the purchase of additional equipment for video-link facility in district court of Punjab.

A statement issued by the LHC says the chief justice has ordered that the video-link facility will continue in the district courts with the existing equipment.

“Considering the current economic situation in the country, unnecessary expenses are not justified,” the statement quotes the chief justice as saying.

It reads that all the district courts are already equipped with video-link systems, and district judges also have laptops and Wi-Fi facilities.

Video-link facility to continue with the existing systems

The former registrar of the LHC had issued a circular to all the district and session judges to purchase equipment for installation of video-link systems for online recording of evidence and statements, besides other judicial proceedings.

However, according to the data received from the district judiciary, the estimated cost of the required equipment was around one billion rupees, reads the statement.

Given the high cost estimate, Chief Justice Neelum ordered withdrawal of the previous circular and halted all unnecessary purchases in the district judiciary.

However, the video-link systems will continue to function in the district courts, using the existing equipment, ensuring no disruption in the online recording of evidence and statements and other judicial proceedings, it adds.

As an administrative judge of information technology wing, Chief Justice Neelum had formulated the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for provision of video-link facility

in the courts across the province, which were approved by the LHC’s administration committee and implemented in the district courts.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2024