LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday directed the Punjab police to increase the font size used in first information reports (FIRs) across the province.
Chief Justice Aalia Neelum issued the direction during the hearing on an issue arising from a contempt of court petition.
Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Rao Abdul Kareem appeared before the court on its orders.
The chief justice expressed displeasure over the FIRs being printed in small fonts, observing that the documents were difficult to read. She remarked that the problem has been persisting case after case. “While police are saving paper, we are losing our eyesight,” the chief justice remarked.
She observed that fitting the narration of three pages on a single page would obviously make the font unreadable. She directed the IGP to ensure that FIRs across Punjab were printed in a uniform, larger font.
The IGP told the court that a letter had already been sent to the chairman of the Punjab Information Technology Board regarding an increase in the font size.
The chief justice sought a report from the IGP on the steps taken in this regard and adjourned the hearing until Sept 29. She also sought a separate report on a contempt of court petition filed by a citizen against the police. On Wednesday, during the hearing of a petition filed by a citizen, SP Abdullah appeared before the court on behalf of the Chuhng police. When the chief justice asked the SP to read out the FIR aloud, he could not properly read its contents.
“Why is the FIR not readable? I cannot understand what has been written in it,” she remarked. She also took a sarcastic jab at the handwriting, observing that it looked like “flies” and quipped: “Even the size of the flies is bigger [than this].”
Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2026
