Early market closures: Deputy commissioner put on notice

Petitioner says ICT admin has issued no formal notification.

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has sum1moned the capital’s deputy commissioner (DC) on a petition seeking court directives to restrain the ICT Administration from forcing traders to shut businesses early.

As part of an energy conservation plan, the government has ordered owners of shops, marriage halls, restaurants and other businesses in Islamabad and Punjab to shut their businesses by 8pm and 10pm respectively.

Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, while accepting the petition filed by Al-Safa Golden Company, a shopping mall in F-7 Markaz, on Wednesday directed the DC to appear in court on Monday.

The ICT Administration has launched operations against traders to implement the prime minister’s order of early market closures.

The forced closure of businesses evoked a strong response from the Islamabad traders, who shut theirs businesses on Tuesday by observing a complete shutter-down strike.

The petitioner has maintained that following a verbal order from the prime minister after a meeting of the cabinet’s energy committee, the city administration and police visit markets daily to forcibly shut shops while hurling threats.

The petitioner has contended that when the enforcement teams are asked to provide a notification, they fail to do so and instead harass and threaten traders.

“The decision (of early market closures) has not only caused tremendous consternation among the traders and the public but also has become a cause of concern for the petitioner’s company,” said the petitioner’s counsel.

The petitioner has also maintained that markets and shopping malls in all big cities of Pakistan were closing on normal timings but the government is only forcing the capital’s traders to shut businesses by 8pm, which was discriminatory and unjust.

“The summer has just started and people in big cities normally go for shopping in the evening,” the petitioner has maintained, requesting the court to restrain the administration from harassing traders.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 30^th, 2015.