ISLAMABAD: The rapid increase in Covid-19 cases across the country has forced the top judiciary to take precautionary measures with Supreme Court Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed issuing a circular for necessary steps to be taken by those visiting the SC premises to contain the spread of the deadly virus.

The Supreme Court office had already announced some precautionary measures in the wake of the pandemic restricting the entry in Courtroom No 3 because of the limited capacity of the courtroom where a six-judge bench, headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial, will resume hearing review petitions questioning the June 19 short order in the presidential reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa from Monday.

The apex court office has now announced that the entry into the Courtroom No 3 will be allowed through special passes, but advocates and journalists regularly coming to the court for their professional duties will be exempted from passes on Monday.

The Supreme Court Bar Association, Balochistan Bar Association, Punjab Bar Council vice chairman Shahnawaz Ismail and president of the Quetta Bar Association Mohammad Asif Reki, through their counsel Hamid Khan, have already filed amended review petitions questioning the majority judgement in the presidential reference against Justice Isa.

Only lawyers and litigants summoned by court may attend proceedings

The amended review petitions, however, adopted the reasoning and the conclusions drawn by Justice Maqbool Baqar and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah who dissented from the majority judgement endorsed by seven judges of the 10-judge full court.

The SC circular said that the apex court had been issuing circulars, guidelines and advisories from time to time for staff, lawyers, litigants and security personnel in SC offices all over the country.

Keeping in view the second wave of Covid-19 and in order to avoid spread of the deadly virus, some preventive measures in the vicinity of the Supreme Court building have been taken to avert potential threat of the infections to honourable judges, staff, lawyers, litigants and security staff.

The announcement said that only lawyers and those litigants who were pleading in person or persons summoned by the court or issued notices by the court might attend the court proceedings.

The announcement, however, advised the persons/potential visitors to avoid visiting the Supreme Court and collect information through phone from the Supreme Court helpline (1818).

All individuals must cover mouth and nose with mask and cover mouth and nose with a tissue or sleeve (not hands) when coughing or sneezing.

“Wearing of face masks and getting checked for fever/temperature is mandatory for all persons on entering the premises of the Supreme Court building in Islamabad and branch registries in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta,” the advisory said.

“The entry of the people without face masks, temperature/fever/symptoms’ checking and passing through disinfectant tunnel is completely banned,” it said.

Earlier, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) also requested the authorities concerned of the Supreme Court to take precautionary measures amid rising cases of Covid-19.

The SCBA said that in the wake of the recent unprecedented increase in Covid-19 cases taking several precious lives, including senior members of the legal fraternity as well as the recent sad demise of Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court Waqar Ahmed Seth, implementation of SOPs (standard operating procedures) to contain the spread of the virus at the Supreme Court premises and its registry branches, was necessary.

It called for fixing only cases of urgent nature for the time being and imposing restrictions on large gatherings of lawyers and litigants inside the Supreme Court premises and its registry branches.

The SCBA also requested the authorities concerned to encourage the use of virtual means for lawyers’ appearance in their cases.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2020