Supply of certified copies of record

Application submitted by petitioner for supply of certified copies of inquiry proceedings dismissed by District Judge on the basis that only preliminary inquiry was conducted and a report was submitted, whereas orders were passed for a regular inquiry, therefore, inquiry had not yet been concluded and at such stage petitioner had no right to inspect any document relating to inquiry proceedings

Contention on behalf of petitioner was that in terms of Art.85 of Qanun-e-Shahadat, 1984 a 'judicial inquiry' came within the definition of a public document; that in view of Art.87 of the said Qanun-e-Shahadat, 1984 every public officer having custody of a public document, which a person had a right to inspect, should give that person on demand a copy of such document

Validity

Inquiry conducted by a judicial officer regarding missing of a file or negligence or omission/commission of an act by an official of the District Court could not be termed as a judicial inquiry, rather, such inquiry was conducted in pursuance of the administrative order passed by the authority concerned

Part B, Chapter 5, Rules and Orders High Court (Lahore), Volume V provided that a copy or translation of a judicial record might be granted in the manner prescribed by the rules to any person who was legally entitled to receive it, whereas in the present case, inquiry proceedings, which had not yet been concluded, could not be termed as judicial record

Constitutional petition was dismissed in circumstances.