Chief justice directs provinces, capital to reopen shopping malls

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Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed on Monday issued directions to reopen shopping malls across the country.

During a hearing of a suo motu case regarding measures taken to deal with the coronavirus crisis — being heard by a five-member bench comprising the CJP, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed — Justice Ahmed questioned the “logic” behind keeping malls closed.

He also told authorities to allow markets to remain open on Saturday and Sunday, as opposed to the current system in which markets are only open four days a week. In his remarks, the chief justice said that keeping markets closed two days a week is a “violation of Articles 4, 18 and 25 of the Constitution”.

“Coronavirus does not go anywhere on Saturday and Sunday,” he remarked, adding: “What is the reason behind keeping markets closed on Saturday and Sunday?”

Earlier during the proceedings, the chief justice gave these directions to the Sindh government but later said that the steps should be taken across the country.

While responding to the queries by the bench, Sindh Advocate General Salman Talibuddin said that the province was implementing all decisions made by the National Coordination Committee (NCC), which is headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The court noted that Islamabad and Punjab intended to reopen shopping malls and told Sindh government to consult the Centre on the matter.

“We don’t see any reason for keeping shopping malls closed in Sindh,” the bench said. “Sindh should consult the federal government regarding opening shopping malls.

“Provinces should not create hurdles in opening shopping malls after getting permission.”

The court said that shopping malls in Punjab will open from today, while Sindh will take approval from the health ministry.

“The court expects that the health ministry will not create any unimportant hurdles and will [allow] businesses to open.”

The bench said that it will be the governments’ responsibility to ensure that SOPs are being followed.

The court also restricted Karachi Commissioner Iftikhar Shallwani, who had appeared before court today, from sealing shops and markets.

“Instead of sealing shops, make sure that SOPs are followed,” the chief justice said and directed the commissioner to reopen the shops that had been sealed. He inquired which “small markets” had been opened in the metropolis. The Sindh advocate general said that all markets, except shopping malls, were open.

“Are Zainab Market and Raja Bazar small markets?” the chief justice asked.

“About 70 per cent people go to malls for fun,” Shallwani said.

A written order in this regard is expected to be issued later today.

The hearing was adjourned until tomorrow.

Earlier this month, the government had decided to ease restrictions across the country and had allowed businesses to operate with standard operating procedures (SOPs) in place. Markets — that had been closed as part of measures taken to curb the novel coronavirus — were also reopened.

The SOPs went out the window once the lockdown was eased as hordes of people headed out to markets without taking any precautionary measures.

Last week, the Karachi administration sealed multiple stores, markets and salons for allowing large crowds to gather.

Last month, the Supreme Court had taken a suo motu notice of the government’s efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country.

NDMA quizzed on expenses

The top court also grilled the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) over the money being spent to deal with the coronavirus crisis. The NDMA had submitted a report over the amount spent on medical equipment and quarantine centres for suspected patients.

“What is the reason behind spending hundreds and thousands of rupees on one patient?” the chief justice asked the NDMA representative.

“Money has been spent on medical equipment, testing kits and quarantine centres,” the NDMA representative explained.

The chief justice expressed concerns over the money allocated to cope with the health crisis and said: “Corona(virus) did not come so that someone can take away Pakistan’s money.”

“Billions of rupees are being spent on tin charpoys,” he added.

Justice Amin expressed similar reservations. “I don’t think money is being spent on corona(virus) with due consideration,” he said.

The NDMA representative said that Rs25 billion had been allocated to the body and all of it had not yet been spent. The chief justice said that apart from the amount allocated to NDMA, the government had also handed out money to provinces. Money had also been allocated for the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme.

“Corona in Pakistan is not as severe as the money being spent on it,” the bench observed.

Justice Ahmed inquired about the steps NDMA has taken to deal with the locust attack and said that crops planted for next year would not be able to grow.

“The agricultural sector will not remain as important if industries become operational,” the chief justice said.