Traders leader fined for filing frivolous petition

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan on Tuesday censured a trade leader for filing a frivolous petition against the pandemic lockdown and also slapped a fine on him.

“To continue or end the lockdown is a policy matter of government,” the chief justice observed dismissing the petition by Naeem Mir, secretary general of All Pakistan Traders Association. Chief Justice Khan observed that nobody would be allowed to waste time of the courts by filing unnecessary and frivolous petitions for cheap publicity. Advocate Asad Manzoor Butt, the petitioner’s counsel, stated that the petition was not against the lockdown but its implementation in a discriminatory manner. He said the government showed discrimination in allowing the resumption of industries. “Do you want us to shut the industries?” Chief Justice Khan asked the counsel and also warned him to increase amount of fine by every next minute of his arguments.

The CJ dismissed the petition for being not maintainable and imposed a fine of Rs50,000 on the petitioner. Chief Justice Khan remarked that the citizens should support the government in its efforts to control the pandemic. In his petition, Mir had submitted that people from all walks of life faced the crisis due to the coronavirus lockdown. He asked the court to order the government to also allow traders to resume their businesses and compensate the affected traders from the PM coronavirus relief fund.