Khudayar Mohla –
ISLAMABAD, (TLTP): While urging the top court to declare a national health emergency across the country and forming an independent committee of experts for overseeing government plan of action to counter COVID-19, a young pro bono lawyer requested the top court to club his petition with recently taken suo motu notice over inadequate facilities in Pakistan to combat the prevailing pandemic.
President of Public Lawyers Front (PLF) Usama Khawar Gumman and others invoked the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction on March 21, requesting for a declaratory judgment over the issue which involves question of public importance.
Advocate Usama said while talking to TLTP, “The suo motu notice taken by the Supreme Court is extraordinary. In our jurisprudence, Supreme Court has jurisdiction to initiate proceedings, under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution, if ‘a question of public importance with reference to enforcement of any of the fundamental rights’ arise”.
Substantiating his contentions, Usama expressed that constitutional petition filed earlier whereas the suo motu notice concerns the same subject matter that includes inadequate measures taken by the State in combating the coronavirus pandemic in Pakistan. He has highlighted violations of fundamental rights due to the state’s inadequate response to combating the prevailing coronavirus pandemic in the petition.
Responding to a question Advocate Usama told that he has prayed the top court to take immediate action to remedy the errors and omissions in the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic; otherwise, the pandemic shall have severe results for the life, liberty, dignity, and property of the citizens of Pakistan.
Seeking the court’s intervention to declare a national public health emergency across the country Advocate Usama suggested that for an emergency relief fund for the crisis the dam fund should be utilised for curtailment of the prevailing virus.
He also sought the court’s directives for the government to conduct free test of the coronavirus of 10,000 people daily in public and private hospitals of the country, citing evidence from South Korea and other countries has demonstrated that mass testing is critical to contain the virus as WHO has increasingly called for it.
Advocate Usama also requested the top court to issue directives to the federal and provincial governments to provide free masks and hand sanitizers to the public besides closing all borders and limiting inter-provincial travel, adding governments may be directed for an urgent action to secure katchi abadis (slums) and refugee settlements with their high density, poor sanitation, water shortages, and proximity to sewage could become death traps and flash points for coronavirus expansion.
