In a rare suo motu, top judge Gulzar focuses on virus response

Ag Agencies

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed on Friday took a suo motu notice — his first as the top judge — on the situation arising out of coronavirus crisis and the steps being taken by the federal government to curb it.

According to the cause list issued by the Supreme Court, a five-member larger bench, headed by the CJP himself and also comprising Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed, will heard the case on Monday.

The justices comprising the larger bench are the same who overturned the Islamabad and Sindh High Courts’ temporary release of prisoners over Covid-19 concerns and ordered the re-arrest of more than 500 inmates that were released under the high court rulings.

In the suo motu cause list, the court issued notices to the Attorney-General for Pakistan Barrister Khalid Jawed Khan, Health Secretary Dr Tanvir Ahmed Qureshi and Interior Secretary Yousaf Naseem Khokhar and also summoned all the chief secretaries and advocate generals of the four provinces. Sheikh Zamir Hussain, Advocate Supreme Court, has been appointed amicus curiae to assist the court.

According to Geo News, the notice was taken over “inadequate facilities”. The apex court has asked all respondents to provide details of what has been done so far to contain the spread of the virus.

The development comes as the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Pakistan rose to 4,700, with 68 dead at the time of this report. Punjab has the most infections with 2,280, followed by Sindh with 1,214. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has 620, Balochistan 220, Islamabad 118, Gilgit-Baltistan 215, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir 33. More than 700 have recovered.

Justice Ahmed’s suo motu notice marks a break from his predecessor, former chief justice Asif Saeed Khosa, who had refused to take such notices and instead chose to focus his energies on clearing the backlog of cases and reform the judicial system. One of Khosa’s lasting legacies was the institution of model courts, which were designed to speed up the hearing process and dispose of cases sooner.

Khosa’s immediate predecessor, Mian Saqib Nisar, however, famously made use of the apex court’s suo motu powers, and took on issues of public interest like the water shortages and the infamous rape and murder of Zainab Ansari, as well as the establishment of the Diamer-Bhasha dam fund .