LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has ordered the Inspector General of Punjab Police to increase the font size of First Information Reports (FIRs) across the province. The court also directed that every FIR be written in one standard font.
The IG admitted before the court that the current text is too small.
Chief Justice Aalia Neelum gave the order while hearing a petition filed by a citizen, Jamil. The court asked the IG for a compliance report by September 29.
IG Punjab Rao Abdul Kareem appeared in person, as the court had ordered. The Chief Justice asked him whether he had looked at an FIR himself. She said the document could not be read even with glasses, and told him to at least use a single font.
The Chief Justice also said: “Are we supposed to read the FIR or understand it? When the work of three pages is squeezed onto one page, the font is bound to be small. They say we are saving paper. In saving paper, our eyes have been ruined.”
The IG agreed that the font size of FIRs is too small. He told the court the police had sought help from the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB). The PITB runs much of the province’s digital policing system, including computerised FIR registration.
The court summoned the IG at the previous hearing after a Superintendent of Police could not read an FIR in court.
The FIR is the starting point of every criminal case in Pakistan. Under the Code of Criminal Procedure, it records the complainant’s first account of the offence.
Judges, prosecutors and defence lawyers rely on its exact wording. Appellate courts often examine what was, or was not, recorded in it. In recent months the High Court has repeatedly overturned convictions because of delays and flaws in FIRs.
A document that the judge, the accused or the complainant cannot read clearly affects the fairness of the whole process.
Punjab moved to computerised FIR registration through police service centres to improve transparency and cut down on tampering. The court’s order addresses a practical side effect of that system: templates that pack a lot of text into small print.
After the hearing, the IG spoke to the media and said anyone who breaks the law would be dealt with firmly. He said no one would be allowed to cause damage or vandalism on September 23.
He also said that anyone who wants to hold a protest must first get permission from the relevant Deputy Commissioner. He was not aware of any application for permission to protest. No discriminatory action would be taken against anyone. Punjab Police has a strong system of internal accountability.
The IG rejected allegations that police had damaged people’s homes. He said anyone with such a complaint should contact the police complaint cell.
The IG must submit his compliance report by September 29. That report will show whether police stations across Punjab have started using the new format.
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