LHC asks civil servants to submit social media accounts' details

• LHC asks civil servants to submit details of their cellular numbers and social media accounts.
• This development comes during the hearing of the petition against holding protests or strikes by the public functionaries.
• The judge rules that the departments should decide a code for the civil servants to use social media.
  

Lahore High Court Chief Justice Mohammad Qasim Khan observed that civil servants should submit details of their cellular numbers and social media accounts to the relevant departments, The News reported on Thursday.

This development comes during the hearing of a petition against holding protests or strikes by the public functionaries and running a campaign against the judiciary on social media in the wake of the arrest of an assistant commissioner ordered by a civil judge in Sahiwal.

The judge remarked that the departments should decide a code for the civil servants to use social media.

PMS Officers Association apologises court

Provincial Management Service (PMS) Officers Association had apologised unconditionally to the court on behalf of the officers involved in the anti-judiciary protests and objectionable posts on social media. 

The association’s president, Naveed Shahzad Mirza, appeared before the court on Wednesday and tendered the apology. 

He took the court in confidence that no such negligence would take place in the future. 

The chief justice accepted the unconditional apology of the association and withdrew the contempt proceedings initiated against the officials. 

The case

Sahiwal’s Former Civil Judge Muhammad Naeem had last year summoned the then Assistant Commissioner Muhammad Haider in a case against encroachments in the city. 

Read more: Maryam Nawaz's bail cannot be suspended immediately, says LHC

Despite several notices, the officer failed to appear before the court and the civil judge finally issued warrants for his arrest.

The assistant commissioner reportedly got into a heated argument with the judge when he made his appearance in the court. 

The judge ordered his staff to detain the official and handcuff him before shifting him to jail. 

However, some lawyers intervened and the assistant commissioner tendered an apology before the court after which he was released. 

Later, the administrative and revenue staff in different parts of the province went on strike after that incident.