LAHORE: The Lahore High Court held that the Universal Serial Bus (USB) qualifies as a document and that the documents forming part of the record of judicial proceedings are public documents.
The court passed this order in a petition of Muhammad Aleem and said the USB in question expressly made a part of the judicial record is now a public document and the applicant, who was a party to the proceedings, is entitled to have its certified copy.
The court said the law provides that if any person affected by a judgment or order passed by a court desires to have its copy or of any deposition or other part of the record, it shall be furnished to him on his application, subject to payment of fees, the court added. The court, therefore, directed the office to provide the copy of the USB to the petitioner.
The court, however, observed that the copy branch of this court does not have any defined procedure for the issuance of a certified copy of a USB and held that the data in USB will be provided on an un-editable Compact Disc (CD), ensuring that no changes can be made to the digital copy.
A text file shall be inserted in the said compact CD containing the particulars include petition no, case no, submission date, number of pages, fee per page, urgent fee (if any), total fee, date of completion and date of delivery. The court, however, directed the copy branch to stamp on every certified copy of the paper document.
The court ordered that the authorized officer of the copy branch shall give a written certificate also. The court said the applicant shall be liable to pay the cost of the aforesaid certified copy.
The court also asked the office to entertain every application for an attested copy subject to deposit of cost in advance as may be fixed by the Chief Justice from time to time.
According to the details, the applicant and eight others, claiming to be the followers (Mureedain) of Sheikh Muhammad Amin bin Abdul Rehman, filed a petition for the recovery of their spiritual leader.
This court directed the SHO, police station Shah Rukn-e-Alam, Multan, to produce the alleged detenue. The police officer reported that he was an aged person and very ill, and the doctors had advised him not to leave his house.
The applicant and his associates characterized the SHO’s report as false, mala fide and collusive.
The court, therefore, appointed a local commission to record the statement of Muhammad Amin in writing and also make a video clip. The local commissioner submitted his report along with Muhammad Amin’s thumb-marked statement and the USB containing its video footage, which the court made part of the file. The same day, the court after hearing the counsel and viewing the video recording, dismissed the habeas corpus petition holding that it was mala fide.
The applicant assailed this court’s order in the Supreme Court and wanted a copy of the USB for use in that proceeding. The copy branch refused to issue it. Hence, he filed the petition.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023