KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Friday issued notices to the provincial authorities on a petition challenging notifications to impose restrictions on industrial units during the lockdown in the province.

A private manufacturing firm moved the SHC and submitted that the provincial government had imposed a lockdown on March 23 and imposed some restrictions on industries and on March 29 it also directed all employers to disburse salaries to their workers who were not attending duties due to the lockdown.

The petitioner claimed that both the notifications were beyond the scope of respective laws and illegal and also sought restraining order for the provincial authorities from issuing further notification under the Sindh Payment of Wages Act, 2015.

The lawyer for the petitioner moved an application seeking urgent hearing of the petition and the two-judge SHC bench headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar allowed the application, but ruled that “office objection was deferred for the time being and exemption granted subject to all just exceptions”.

The bench issued notices to the provincial secretaries of home and labour and human resource departments as well as the additional advocate general for April 23.

The petitioner submitted that the provincial home department issued a notification on March 23 under Section 3 of the Sindh Epidemic Diseases Act, 2014 in view of prevailing condition of coronavirus and the employers throughout the province had been restrained from terminating services of their employees and directed to make payment of their wages notwithstanding that they were not attending duties and to treat their absence as leave.

The lawyer for the petitioner submitted that the provincial labour and human resource department had also issued a notification on March 29 under Section 3 of the Sindh Payment of Wages Act, 2015 directing employers to disburse salaries to all kinds of workers, including permanent, contractual and daily wagers.

He contended that in order to prevent spread of any epidemic disease, the government was empowered to take any remedial step under the Sindh Epidemic Diseases Act, including lockdown, social distancing or barring religious congregations, but it had no power to restrain the petitioner from exercising rights to lay off, retrench, closure or any other right available under the Sindh Terms of Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 2016.

The counsel further argued that under the law, the “wages” become payable only if the corresponding terms of contract of employment whether express or implied were fulfilled, but not otherwise.

It was further submitted that the provincial government has extended the lockdown and it was quite likely to be further extended.

The petitioner contended that since both the notifications were beyond the scope of respective laws the same be declared illegal and unconstitutional, and also sought restraining order for labour department from issuing further notification under the Sindh Payment of Wages Act.

Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2020