Rawalpindi district kuchery to get digital record room

Files in British-era archives room to be digitised

RAWALPINDI: In a radical step to bring the district judiciary in line with modern technology and to solve a critical issue created due to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, the Rawalpindi district judiciary has decided to digitise all court records to facilitate litigants and lawyers.

As a first step, the judicial staff at the district courts is preparing to establish a digital records room, officials told The Express Tribune.

Records of all verdicts and case-related documents will now be secured digitally instead of hard copies, officials said. The existing records room at the Rawalpindi District Kuchery is over a century old and is housed in a building which is a relic of the British Raj. No surprise then that the state of case files, records and other documents there, was appalling.

As soon as the digital record room is completed, case records will be maintained digitally, court officials said while requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

The officials added that a decision on digitising case records had been principally taken two years ago, however, the project was never implemented. Now, the court management has started work on the project and it is expected to be completed soon, officials said.

They added that the availability of records in the digital format will provide massive relief to litigants, who will no longer be required to visit the courts to acquire documents such as verdicts and case files as they can apply for the required documents online and get them via e-mail.

The court officials said that the new system will also cease the culture of bribes prevailing in the lower courts as litigants usually had to grease the palms of court staff to get their files quickly.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 16^th, 2020.