IHC reserves decision on plea seeking details of steps taken to combat coronavirus

Petitioner wants federal govt to provide information about stranded Pakistani citizens in China

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Friday reserved decision on a plea seeking details from the federal government on the steps taken to evacuate Pakistanis citizens from coronavirus infected Wuhan and preventative measures to tackle the spread of the disease in the country.

IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard the plea and questioned how the petitioner’s fundamental rights were being violated by the situation.

Invoking Article 199 of the Constitution, the petition asserts that the high court has jurisdiction in situations of public interest.

Justice Minallah remarked that the information sought by the petitioner could be obtained by availing the Right to Information Act 2013.

“The government has been providing updates on the situation in daily press conferences. A high alert has also been issued," he observed.

The petitioner’s lawyer, Jahangir Khan Jadoon, argued that the government’s statistics were inaccurate.

The bench, however, noted that the court could not admit the request for an inquiry. Jadoon asked the high court to summon details from relevant officials.

Justice Minallah reserved the verdict on the counsel's request.



The petition

The petitioner highlighted social media posts of Pakistani students seeking evacuation from the locked-down city of Wuhan as the Chinese authorities struggle to contain the novel coronavirus.

The level of uncertainty in Pakistan is high due to the influx of Chinese citizens in the country, stated the petitioner. The petition also criticises the federal government for not having an effective policy in place to guide people on the precautions and treatment of the viral outbreak in case it spreads in the country.

The petitioner has prayed to the bench to direct the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government to present details of the arrangements in place to tackle the deadly virus across the country and especially in the federal capital.

He claimed that since Islamabad has an influx of Chinese citizens, “there is a great risk of the coronavirus spreading” in the city.

The current situation

Meanwhile, Pakistan has halted flights to and from China with immediate effect as the death toll from a virus outbreak spreading in China mounted and the World Health Organization called it a global health emergency.

"We are suspending flights to China until Feb 2," additional secretary of aviation Abdul Sattar Khokhar told Reuters by phone, adding the situation would be reviewed after that date.

He declined to comment on the reason for the closure. Some airlines including British Airways, have suspended flights to China due to warnings of the coronavirus outbreak.