July 10, 2008	Thursday	Rajab 6, 1429

KARACHI, July 9: District East’s effort towards the efficient maintenance of court records via computer programming and an online information system appears on the way to failure since 82 of its 130 computers are out of order, Dawn has learnt. Moreover, a visit to the hardware and store rooms showed that most of the ‘systems’ stacked together were merely empty computer cases and the operating machinery was missing.

As a result, while the relevant website still displays the cases that are to be heard on a particular day, the internal system maintaining case records and details of their proceedings have been badly affected. Sources within District East blamed the situation on the shortage of funds and the lack of interest.

Launched in 2004, the computerised system of record maintenance and online updates at www.agehi.org was a trailblazing experiment under which 130 used computers with a year’s warranty were purchased. Each of District East’s 36 courts was meant to have three computers – one each for stenographic purposes, a diary recorder and a data manager – and 12 to maintain the local area networking of the district. The idea was to introduce a Case Flow Management System developed by a private software company, which would enable the court staff to instantly update and upload case proceedings and details of hearings at different courts.

Now, the project appears to be on shaky legs since according to a source in District East, it has not been given much importance since the end of the tenure of the former district and sessions judge East, Zafar Ahmed Khan Sherwani, under whose aegis the system was introduced.

“This is primarily due to the shortage of funds,” said the source on the condition of anonymity. “When there used to be a shortfall earlier, funds that had been granted in some other capacity used to be diverted towards this purpose. The former DJ East used to manage to meet requirements in more or less the same sum of money.” He added that the out of order computers developed faults because of frequent voltage fluctuations and in some cases because the court staff was not trained to use the machines.

While the majority of the District East courts adopted the computerised system, sources claimed that a few courts did not use it at all. Now, with so many computers out of order, it has become virtually impossible to maintain website updates as was originally envisioned. “The Pentium 3 machines were supposed to be maintained by a private computer expert,” said the source. “But he demanded a job in the court and when that was refused, he stopped visiting the courts.”

Voltage fluctuations blamed

While talking to Dawn, District East’s hardware section and library staff claimed that only 70 computers were non-functional. However, an earlier report issued by the same department states: “After a lapse of time and due to electricity problems, 82 computers are out of order and as a result the court staff is facing great difficulty in maintaining records and court affairs.”

The staffers cited electricity issues as the prime reason behind the damage to the computers, saying that fluctuations in voltage had damaged not only the machines but also the uninterrupted power supply (UPS) systems and stabilisers to which they were hooked up.

Former DJ East Zafar Ahmed Khan Sherwani, during whose tenure the computerised system was introduced, referred to the current situation as “pretty grim.”

“I saw the system in courts in Singapore and brought the idea here,” he told Dawn. “It was quite a unique system but no one is paying much attention to its maintenance now.”

Mr Sherwani said that a private software company developed the software for the system, but that company had not been paid for two years. “Soon after this system was found to be successful, Rs40 million were granted to develop similar systems in other districts. But not much has been done about the money,” he commented. “They should understand that government money has been spent on this system, which should therefore be properly operated.”

Meanwhile, the current district and sessions judge, East, Ashfaq Ahmed Baloch, refused to admit that so many computers required repairs or replacement. Unaware of the fact that Dawn had seen the faulty machines in the hardware room and that the relevant staff had themselves described the computers as “not being in working condition,” Mr Baloch stated that, “There is nothing unusual about computers being out of order. A computer or two may develop a fault but it is repaired immediately.”

He maintained that “if a computer or two became non-functional, another could be used to do the job.”

Asked when new machines would be purchased to replace the old ones, he said that a proposal had been sent to the High Court and pointed out that while there was no specific fund for computers, such a fund did exist for machines. Mr Baloch added that as soon as this year’s funds were released in August, the purchase of new computers and UPS systems would be considered.