SHC not to pass any adverse order in absence of lawyers amid coronavirus threat

In wake of the coronavirus threat in the province, Sindh High Court (SHC) Chief Justice (CJ) Ahmed Ali M Shaikh has ordered that only cases of urgent nature will be heard and decided in the SHC till the outcome of the meeting to form the national judicial policy, which is scheduled to be held today (March 19).

The SHC CJ has also ordered that in case of the absence of any counsel, no adverse orders shall be passed in any matter. The interim order came on Wednesday on the request of the Sindh High Court Bar Association which sought adjournment of the cases as a precautionary measure in wake of coronavirus pandemic.

Representatives of the bar had approached the SHC CJ and other judges of the court and requested them that till a policy decision was taken by the administrative committee of the SHC, at least a general policy be adopted that that no adverse orders may be passed in any of the cases which were fixed in the courts on March 18 and 19.

The bar secretary had also sent a letter to Justice Shaikh submitting that there was serious uneasiness among the legal fraternity as the court work across the province was continuing in the normal way and present measures adopted were not sufficient to avert the coronavirus threat.

He submitted that despite the threat of such infection, the lawyers, litigants and court staff were being forced to attend the courts daily due to fixation of cases in normal course which was exposing all of them to the risk of either being infected by such virus or be a source of its spread.

He submitted that it was the bar’s understanding that if urgent effective methods were not immediately adopted by the courts, the same may lead to an unimaginable disaster.

The SHC CJ, in view of the coronavirus pandemic in the country and the likelihood of its spread in overcrowded places, ordered that only cases of urgent nature would be heard and decided in the court and no adverse orders shall be passed in the absence of lawyers.

The SHC, however, made it clear that such interim measures were subject to the decision of national judicial policy committee meeting which was scheduled to be held on March 19 in Islamabad to discuss the issue at length.

The SHCBA has strongly advised its members to avoid attending court proceedings on March 18 and 19 as a precautionary measure as they would be at severe risk of catching coronavirus.