SHC issues contempt of court notices to local govt secretary, rabies taskforce head

The notices were issued over their failure to advertise rabies helpline

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) issued on Tuesday contempt of court notices to the local government secretary and the chairperson of the taskforce against rabies for failing to advertise helpline launched for receiving complaints about dog bites.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Yousuf Ali Sayeed issued the notice during the hearing of a plea seeking action against shortage of anti-rabies vaccine.

An inquiry report about a minor boy, Hasnain, who was attacked by stray dogs in Larkana, was presented before the court at the hearing. The court, however, remarked that the report did not identify persons responsible for Hasnain's death.

The court inquired about the steps taken regarding the helpline established for complaints pertaining to dog-bite incidents. At this, Local Government Secretary Roshan Ali Shaikh informed the court that a helpline was set up and was advertised through different media.

"In what way would this advertisement help a citizen? Does it mention the government of Sindh's helpline or dog-bite cases?" rebuked Justice Mazhar, stating that the helpline only mentioned the garbage and the streetlights issue. At this, Sindh Additional Advocate General maintained that it would require a lot of expenditure if the government were to start setting up separate helplines for every issue.

The court asked Shaikh that if any advertisement for the helpline was through electronic media. At this, Shaikh replied that a documentary was aired on television instead of an advertisement. Meanwhile, media representatives responded to the same question, stating that no advertisement was aired.

Irked by the answers, Justice Mazhar further inquired about the advertisement aired on electronic media, at which Shaikh maintained that the government did not pay for the content aired on television. Mazhar then remarked that Shaikh was being "duplicitous," and that "a paid content caption was displayed on the advertisement." The court then ordered that advertisement be aired on electronic and print media.

Later, a journalist, on being questioned by the court, stated that dog-bite cases had increased over time, with more than 1,500 cases being reported at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre alone. To this end, Advocate Tariq Mansoor maintained that 400 dog-bite cases were reported from Umerkot and 147 from Karachi.

The court sought a report regarding dog-bite cases from the local government secretary and ordered the additional health secretary to submit a report, prepared by Umerkot's district administration, on the matter.

The court also issued contempt of court notices to local government secretary and the chairperson of taskforce against rabies for not advertising the helpline properly, warning them of indictment if the orders were not complied with.

The court adjourned the hearing till March 19 while ordering the health secretary to appear before the court at the next hearing.

Plea accepted for hearing

The bench also accepted a plea challenging the notification, issued by Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Murad Ali Shah, for the establishment of an inquiry committee against Shikarpur SSP Dr Rizwan, for hearing.

Petitioner's counsel Advocate Fawad Kachi maintained that Shah had issued a notification for setting up an inquiry committee against SSP Rizwan on 22 February, while the former Sindh IGP Dr Syed Kaleem Imam wrote a letter on 24 February, stating that the inquiry was being carried out without consulting him.

Advocate Kachi argued that Sindh IGP was in-charge of the affairs regarding police officials as per the law, therefore the CM could not interfere in these affairs. At this, Justice Mazhar remarked that "the Sindh IGP has been changed, and a new IGP has taken charge."

Advocate Kachi, however, termed Shah's interference in police affairs "illegal," claiming that the Sindh government was "making police departments controversial just to protect criminal elements." The court accepted the plea for hearing.

Plea disposed of

Meanwhile, a bench comprising Justice Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro and Justice Irshad Ali Shah disposed of the plea seeking legislation and ban on gutka, mawa and mainpuri, directing the authorities to continue operations against gutka manufacturers and vendors.

Separate reports by Sindh IGP and the Sindh government were submitted to the court. The assistant advocate general maintained that the government of Sindh had passed a bill to ban gutka, mawa and mainpuri.

"Relevant set of rules has been passed and therefore, the citizens can reach out to trial court if they have any complaints," remarked Justice Kalhoro, after the court was informed about the bill. He further stated that "all actions will now be taken in accordance with the law, with all the relevant cases being registered under it."

The court disposed of the plea, directing the petitioner to file a separate plea if the laws were not enforced. The court also directed the authorities to continue their operations against gutka manufacturers and vendors.

Dismounted PMTs case

Meanwhile, another bench comprising Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Zulfiqar Ahmed Khan sought details about Pole Mounted Transformers (PMTs) that were dismounted over Sharjeel Memon's plea pertaining to electricity load shedding and illegal connections in Sindh.

Memon has maintained in the plea that the people of Sindh suffer from 18 hours of load shedding despite paying their bills regularly.

Advocate Raja Ali Wahid maintained at the hearing that the whole province was facing 18-hour-long load shedding, while electricity theft and illegal connection were rampant. And then K-Electric dismounts PMTs, suspending the electricity supply to entire localities, he added.

The court sought details of the areas where the PMTs were dismounted by K-Electric and adjourned the hearing for an indefinite period.

Reply sought

Separately, the bench comprising Justice Mazhar and Sayeed directed the Sindh government to submit final reply over a plea pertaining to provincial advisers and special assistants availing privileges which were only to be provided to ministers.

The court questioned that whether advisers and special assistants were working according to the law or just availing the privileges. It inquired from the additional advocate general, what the mechanism in place is for appointing special assistants and warned that notices would be issued to all advisers and special assistants if the reply was not submitted.

Later, the court also inquired about the number of advisers currently serving, to which additional advocate general replied that there were only four. The petitioner, however, denied additional advocate general's statement and maintained that there were far more advisers and special assistants than just four.

The court remarked, while addressing the petitioner, that they had been pursuing two different cases regarding the advisers at the same time, and combined both pleas. It then ordered the Sindh government to submit final reply on the plea.

Adviser to Sindh CM on Law Barrister Murtaza Wahab, Prisons Adviser Aijaz Hussain and others advisers and special assistants have been nominated as parties in the plea.