The judicial commission probing into loopholes in the messy Intermediate results on Thursday snubbed former IT consultant Dr Majid Naeem when he tried to criticise the media’s role during the whole fiasco and refused to admit his mistakes.
The commission headed by Justice Chaudhry Shahid Saeed was irked by the IT consultant’s attitude and vigour with which he defended his defective computerised online system putting the whole blame on the chairmen and examination controllers of the boards. The judge remarked, “It is really an astonishing thing that you are not willing to admit your mistake. You are shifting blame on others despite the fact you handed over the computerised online system to untrained staff of education boards in haste by abolishing the manual system without thinking of its consequences”. Naeem said that every year education boards faced errors in results but this year the media scandalised the matter. The Matriculation result would not have been compiled with minor/routine errors if there was any problem in the computerised system, he said. Justice Saeed rejected his opinion and said, “You think that the media should have stayed at home even when students were on roads and boards’ properties were set on fire?” The judge observed that the media played its due role and tried its best to show the true picture of the issue. The former IT consultant, presently in NAB’s custody, reiterated his statement that board administrations were involved in protests and ransacking on boards’ promises. He said that monopoly of a mafia prevailed in boards, which sabotaged the computerised system to save their domination. The commission observed that statements of all education board heads suggested that Naeem was given unlimited powers and nobody dared to even point out flaws in the computerised system. Naeem informed the commission that he had sought three days from board heads to remove errors in the result but his offer was not considered. The commission asked the former consultant to file a final written statement observing that his appearance was not necessary on every hearing. Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) Chairman Umar Saif Khurram and Director General Naeem Waqar Qureshi, Lahore BISE IT In-charge Mian Tariq Mehmood and controller examinations Anwar Ahmed also recorded their statements. Lahore BISE Store Superintendent Muhammad Tariq presented the record of equipment purchased for the computerised system. Khurram agreed to the commission’s argument that boards should had introduced their individual computerised system and the old manual system should have also been run parallel to the new system. He said that boards did not require the manpower to enforce and effectively run the new system. The commission also allowed Judicial Activism Panel Chairman Azhar Siddique to assist it on the matter and present documentary evidences today (Friday).
