Lahore High Court Tackles Backlog with Tech

The Lahore High Court, led by Chief Justice Aalia Neelum, is taking significant steps to address the mounting backlog of cases in the district courts of Punjab, with a focus on leveraging technology to expedite the resolution of cases and enhance the delivery of justice.

A full court meeting has been convened for January 18, attended by prominent justices, including Justice Shujaat Ali Khan, and key officials from the Registrar High Court and Director General of District Judiciary. The primary objective of this gathering is to strategize ways to tackle the enormous backlog of approximately 1.5 million pending cases across various courts, including over 100,000 cases within the Lahore High Court itself. The meeting will specifically focus on the 1.4 million pending cases in Punjab's district judiciary, comprising 1.19 million civil cases and over 200,000 session cases.

In a pioneering move, the Lahore High Court, under the leadership of Chief Justice Aalia Neelum, has launched an initiative providing real-time access to case updates through a dedicated website and mobile application. This innovative project aims to reduce public hardships by allowing litigants to track court proceedings from the comfort of their homes, thereby minimizing unnecessary visits to the court and streamlining the judicial process. The implementation of this project, overseen by Additional Registrar IT Jamal Ahmad, is slated for this month and marks a significant step towards modernizing the judicial system through technology-driven solutions, making the LHC the first high court in Pakistan to offer such a facility.

The introduction of the Lahore High Court's official smartphone app, approved by Chief Justice Aaliya Neelum, is a testament to the court's commitment to enhancing transparency, accessibility, and efficiency in the judicial process. Developed under the guidance of Additional Registrar IT Jamal Ahmed, the app promises to revolutionize the way litigants interact with the court, offering features such as convenient case tracking, enhanced transparency, and improved accessibility. This move sets a precedent for other courts in Pakistan, paving the way for a more modern, user-friendly judicial system.