APROPOS the news item ‘ANF court judge stops hearing midway in Rana Sanaullah case after being repatriated to LHC’ (Aug 28). Anti Narcotics Force judge adjourned the hearing of Rana Sanaullah’s bail plea after being informed, during the court proceedings, via WhatsApp that he had been repatriated to the Lahore High Court.

The news item said: “Following the development, it emerged that a notification from the Ministry of Law and Justice, dated Aug 26, had recalled three accountability judges: Masood, judge Mushtaq Ilahi, and judge Muhammad Naeem Arshad.”

The judge said: “I have just received a WhatsApp message: the Lahore High Court has repatriated me. I cannot lend my expertise to this case anymore.”

It is indeed a great leap forward to use technological innovations for speedy execution, communication and working of our courts.

I would like to suggest that an online access terminal be provided to all judges during court proceedings so that they can see the social media applications in real time like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WeChat, Tumblr, Skype, Viber, Snapchat, Flickr, LinkedIn etc for smart working.

Dr Irfan Zafar
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2019