Supreme Court trusts PM’s intentions: CJP says SAPMs inept, ineffective

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court Monday expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of the federal and Sindh governments to deal with the COVID-19 and sought a comprehensive report on the steps being taken to deal with the killer virus.

A five-member larger bench of the apex court — headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Gulzar Ahmed — heard a suo motu case regarding combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed were the other members of the bench. Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Gulzar Ahmed observed that the government had an army of ministers and advisors but no concrete work was being done.

He noted that the advisors were given the status of minister, while there were allegations of corruption against some advisers and ministers.

Attorney General Khalid Javed, however, prayed the court not to pass out such remarks. The CJP said he had used the word ‘allegations’.

The chief justice also questioned the credibility of Advisor to the Prime minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza and said he should be removed from the office. However, while dictating the observations, the chief justice did not issue any such order.

The court directed the federal government as well as the provincial governments, Islamabad Capital Territory and Gilgit Baltistan to take effective measures and formulate unified policies to deal with the pandemic and submit a comprehensive report on the next date of hearing.

(Sabah adds: The Bench said that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s cabinet has become ineffective in the fight against the pandemic and expressed serious doubt over the eligibility of PM Advisor on Health Dr Zafar Mirza. However, no written order was issued on the removal of the SAPM. Expressing dismay over the government performanceto control coronavirus the apex court noted that there is a lack of leadership that could maintain unity in the country.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Gulzar Ahmed also raised questions over the high numbers of advisers and special assistants in the cabinet. The CJP noted without naming anyone that allegedly corrupt individuals have been inducted in the cabinet.

Attorney General for Pakistan Khalid Jawed Khan said that such observations by the SC would only cause harm. To this the CJP replied that he is very careful in passing such remarks.

The CJP noted that larger size of cabinet means that PM doesn’t t know anything.) The chief justice observed that Prime Minister Imran Khan was emphasizing a waiver on the loans adding that efforts should be made for creating jobs.

Without mentioning the recent inquiry report released by the government, the chief justice said whenever the government faced any issue, the prime minister stated changing the portfolio of his ministers.

The chief justice however observed that he did not doubt the honesty of the prime minister. Justice Gulzar asked the AG as to why a unified legislation on the pandemic was not being enacted.

He said there was no harmony and coordination among the provinces and the federation in this regard. Justice Umar Ata Bandial observed that the pandemic was a national calamity and the government had to evolve an effective strategy to persuade the public to ensure social distancing to stay safe from the killer virus.

“You have to show to the people that they will be at risk if they don’t take preventive measures,” Justice Bandial added. He further said it must be ensured that the doctors and paramedics treating the corona patients were supplied with preventive kits.

“This is a critical time when the government is required to take bold and drastic steps for prevention of the pandemic,” he added. Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed observed that they were not criticizing anyone but ‘we have to think collectively, as people are dying of starvation.’

He said in such a situation, Parliament could play a better role and President Arif Alvi should have invoked Article 54 of the Constitution. “Parliament reflects the strength of the nation,” the judge said, adding that they had great respect for parliamentarians.

He further observed that on the one hand the authorities were beating people on roads in the garb of lockdown, on the other people could be seen offering funeral prayers. The chief justice asked the AG if there was any move on the part of the federal government for making a legislation to deal with the pandemic.

The attorney general said there was no such law to deal with the pandemic but the prime minister was chairing a meeting of the National Coordination Committee to reach a decision to this effect. He said the meeting will be attended by all the chief ministers.

The court also asked the Advocate General Sindh Salman Talib Uddin, through the video link, about justification for closure of 11 union councils in Karachi.

The AG submitted that they had provided ration for 15 days to around 5,40080 families in these union councils. He said grocery shops and pharmacies were open in these areas. When the court asked the AG and provincial secretary health about the medical facilities as well as rates of the kits for paramedics and other related issues, he did not reply to the court’s satisfaction.

Justice Sajjad Ali Shah observed that the court gave an opportunity to the advocate general to explain in detail, as the provincial government was being maligned and it should provide details about the distribution of ration.

The Sindh advocate general said had the court forwarded these questions earlier, he would have answered them. The court in its order noted that the Advocate General Sindh had not elaborated on how people having no money will manage in the lockdown.

The court noted that the provincial government had no mechanism to deal with the pandemic. The court further noted that the provincial government had distributed ration of Rs8 billion but it had no report on it.

The court directed the Sindh government to provide a comprehensive report on it on the next date of hearing. Adjourning the matter, the apex court noted in its order that the federal, provincial as well as Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) and Gilgit Baltistan government will take immediate effective measures to deal with the pandemic utilizing all their resources.

The court also directed that the sanitary workers discharging their duties in hospitals as well as in other departments must get proper uniforms enabling them to discharge their duties without fear.

The court noted that the governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Gilgit Baltistan shared reports and it seemed the pandemic was under control in those two provinces.

The court adjourned the hearing until next Monday. Meanwhile, the apex court set aside the Punjab government’s order banning the intra-city, inter-district and inter-province movement of people by all means.

Former president Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Aman Ullah Kanrani told the court that the Punjab government had banned the inter-province movement of people, causing hardship to the people.

The court asked the Advocate General Punjab as to who was available on the video link to confirm that such an order had been passed by the provincial government.

The court observed that such an order could not be passed, as it constituted a violation of Article 15 of the Constitution. Article 15 related to the freedom of movement says every citizen shall have the right to remain in, and subject to any reasonable restriction imposed by law in the public interest, enter and move freely throughout Pakistan and to reside and settle in any part thereof.

The Punjab government issued a notification on March 23 imposing a complete ban on all intra-city, inter-district and inter-province movement of people by all means.

The notification said there had been an increase in COVID-19 cases in the province as well as in Pakistan which might have devastating effects on the human life and hence it was mandatory to take all possible measures to deal with it.