Police stations’ record management: LHC issues notices to Punjab govt, IGP, PITB

LAHORE: A full bench of the Lahore High Court on Friday issued notices to the provincial government, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) in a case against the police stations’ record management system.

The bench headed by Chief Justice Aalia Neelum directed the IGP to compile a manual record of all cases registered in the province and submit a report by September 11.

The bench also instructed the PITB to present the mechanism of the police software and details of the costs and expenditures related to the computerized system of the police.

The bench remarked that the safety of the record was of utmost importance, saying the police eliminated all manual records without any legal justification and put the entire record at risk by computerizing the system.

The bench observed that when call data record (CDR) was computerized, it became accessible to ordinary police officers.

The chief justice said the swift access to such valuable and important data raises questions about the entire system.

She noted that access to the CDR had led to tampering with the cases, and senior police officers had misused the system.

The bench regretted that the CDR of citizens was available in market for Rs50 to Rs 100.

A single bench hearing the matter had recommended the chief justice to constitute a larger bench to decide the issue.

The single bench had been critical to the performance of the PITB and the conduct of its chairman and also taken exception to the allegations of tampering with the police record.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024