The Lahore High Court has barred judges of the lower judiciary from using social media. It also directed them to quit all Whatsapp groups except the official ones, reported 24NewsHDTV channel.

According to an LHC circular released on Friday, the provincial high court banned the use of social media by the lower courts’ adjudicators asking them to leave all non-official Whatsapp groups. A punitive action will be taken against the judges who will not follow the direction, the circular added.

The circular has been dispatched to all district and sessions judges after the approval of LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Amir Bhatti. 

It was stated in the circular that the image of the judiciary had been soiled because of some elements in the district courts. Judicial officials must limit their social life and should abstain from using social media sites namely Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social applications. 

The circular directs the judicial officials to use only the official Whatsapp group. It warned them of action if they found sharing information on non-official Whatsapp groups. 

The lower judiciary judges have been directed to conduct all their correspondence through sessions judges and registrar of the high court. 

The circular said a disciplinary action would be taken against a judge who wanted his transfer to his place of choice. Transfers of the district judicial officials will be done on the basis of their performance and through monitoring system. The judges’ appraisal period will start from July 6 to July 31. A stern action will be taken against judges who will put blue light on their official and private cars. Besides this, a punitive action will also be taken against the judicial officials who will use green colour number plates on their vehicles, the circular warned.

The circular barred the lower court judges to attend court proceedings conducted by the chief justice and other judges without permission. A misconduct inquiry will be launched against those lower judiciary judges who will attend the high court proceedings without permission. 

The circular directed the district judiciary officials to become punctual and wear uniform. 

Reporter Malik Ashraf