Zubair Qureshi
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has issued a circular directing that the under-trial prisoners will not be brought to the courts for hearing of their cases, rather, district and sessions judges would nominate a judge who would visit jail premises to consider bail applications for accused people and remands of under-trial prisoners.
The circular also notifies that civil cases would no longer be fixed while in the criminal cases, lawyers and litigants will stay outside courtrooms until their case is called for hearing. Chief justice Athar Minallah has issued this circular of ‘social distancing strategy’ for the IHC itself as well as the district & sessions courts in the federal capital.
According to this circular, all the district and sessions judges have been asked to fix only the urgent cases until April 5 and adjourn all the other routine hearings. According to the new policy, measures like keeping litigants out of the courtrooms, regular screening and spraying at the court premises, visiting the prisoners at jail rather than bringing them to the courts have been taken. The IHC administration has also asked the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) to provide a thermal temperature gun at the court’s entry points and those found to have a cough, fever or flu-like symptoms will be taken to the dispensary while suspected patients will be shifted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences quarantine by police.
Police officials deployed at the entry gate have also been directed to wear masks and not to shake hands with the visitors. Gathering in the high court or district court premises has been banned.The IHC administration has also instructed people to observe proper hygiene in the cafeteria. The biometric attendance system has been temporarily suspended and employees are asked to mark their attendance manually. A crisis management committee has also been constituted comprising judges of the high court and members of the bar to address the emergency situation in the IHC; a subcommittee comprising sessions judges and district bar members has also been formed.
Not only the IHC, National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and Higher Education Commission (HEC) have also introduced measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
NADRA has decided that people will be screened for COVID-19 before they are allowed into centres across the country. NADRA Chairman Usman Yousaf Mobeen during his visit to the NADRA mega-centre also directed review of measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Only those applicants who are tested with a temperature gun would be allowed into Nadra centres. HEC has also suspended the walk-in degree attestation facility for an indefinite period of time.
