LAHORE: Chief Justice Aalia Neelum of the Lahore High Court has ordered the retraction of a previous announcement about the acquisition of extra equipment for the district court of Punjab’s video-link facility, citing needless expenses.
According to a statement released by the LHC, the chief justice has mandated that the district courts’ video-link facility be maintained using the current setup.
The statement cites the chief judge as saying, “Unnecessary expenses are not justified, considering the current economic situation in the country.”
According to the text, district judges also have laptops and Wi-Fi available to them, and all district courts currently have video-link systems installed.
Video-link functionality will be maintained with the current systems.
All district and session judges received a directive from the former LHC registrar directing them to buy equipment for the installation of video-link systems that would allow for the online recording of statements and evidence in addition to other court sessions.
Nevertheless, the statement states that the anticipated cost of the necessary equipment was close to one billion rupees, based on information obtained from the local judiciary.
Chief Justice Neelum suspended all needless purchases in the district judiciary and ordered the recall of the prior circular due to the high cost estimate.
It also states that there won’t be any interruptions to the online recording of testimony and other court procedures since the district courts’ video-link systems will keep operating on the current hardware.
Chief Justice Neelum developed the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the provision of video-link facilities while serving as an administrative judge for the information technology branch.
in the district courts around the province, which were put into effect by the LHC administration committee after being approved.
