Rain on a case: SCP summons Karachi DCO as courts flood

Rainwater seeps into city courts as lawyers and judges fail to show up.

KARACHI: The heavy showers in the city left the Supreme Court Registry in ankle-deep sewage water on Tuesday, when the five-member bench resumed hearing the case on Karachi violence.

The bench ordered the staff to summon Karachi DCO Muhammad Hussein Syed. He was later seen supervising the work to drain the water from the premises. Attendance at court was thin as many people were unable to reach it. No cases were heard at the city courts on Tuesday as heavy rains inundated MA Jinnah Road and seeped into the court premises where a foot of water collected.

The attendance of lawyers, court staff and litigants was low because of a lack of public transport. No prisoners were brought from the judicial lock-ups for trial and only a few judges showed up.

Karachi Bar Association General Secretary Syed Haider Iman Rizvi said that he had requested all four district judges to suspend all court proceedings because of low attendance. The judges closed the courts early in the morning.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 14^th,  2011.