Covid-19 suo motu case: SC to resume hearing on 4th

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court will resume hearing into the Covid-19 suo motu case next week.

A five-member larger bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Gulzar Ahmed will hear the case on Monday, May 4.

Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed are the other bench members. The court had adjourned the hearing for two weeks on April 20 after expressing dissatisfaction with the manner in which the Zakat fund was being distributed. The court observed that there was no transparency in the expenditures being made to deal with the pandemic.

Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed observed that billions of rupees had been collected by the federal and provincial governments but there was no transparency in its distribution among the needy and poor people.

The court had sought the opinion of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) and Mufti Taqi Usmani on use of Zakat funds for the administrative matters.

The court had also directed the authorities to ensure availability of food and other essential items at all quarantines across the country.

It further ordered that those who could not pay should be kept at the quarantines free of charge.

Meanwhile a two-member bench of the apex court — comprising Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed — will resume hearing in the Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit project (BRT) case on May 5.

On March 17, the court had observed that the BRT project was a test case to prove transparency, fair competition as well as auditing through reliable persons.

The court maintained its interim order, passed in February, halting the FIA investigation in the alleged irregularities in the instant project.