SC disposes of suo motu case on deaths of Thar children

Provincial government claims it has provided adequate medical facilities to the affected families

KARACHI: The Supreme Court (SC) disposed of a suo motu case regarding deaths of over 100 children due to drought in the Thar region, as the provincial government claimed it has provided adequate medical facilities to the affected families.

A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, had resumed hearing suo motu proceedings seeking inquiry into the deaths due to the drought in 2014 and action taken against those responsible. The proceedings were initiated by the then chief justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani after the tragedy struck the deserted region in Sindh.

Former CJP Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had also written a letter to the SC, stating that the situation was tantamount to denial of fundamental rights of citizens of Tharparkar under Article 9 and 14 of the Constitution, as according to the media no adequate arrangements were made to save the lives of human beings as well as livestock.

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The letter had further stated that about 175,000 families were affected, asking the SC to initiate proceeding to enforce fundamental rights of a large number of public of District Tharparkar under Article 184(3) of the Constitution.

On Thursday, the special health secretary informed the judges that the situation in the drought-hit areas was completed under the control of the government. He said the medicines were provided to the basic health centres. The secretary maintained that over 12,000 patients had been attended and admitted to the government hospital in the region affected by the drought during the last eight months.

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Taking the secretary’s report on record, the apex court’s bench disposed of the suo motu case.