ISLAMABAD:
The Supreme Court (SC) has asked what kind of Islamic welfare state
Pakistan is where people are dying of hunger and they are made to pay
for even breathing.
The observation came during the course of the hearing of a petition filed by the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Secretary General Liaquat Baloch against the increase in flour (atta) price.A two-member bench of the apex court, comprising Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Justice Mushir Alam, took up the case on Monday.
The apex court constituted four committees to ascertain the price and availability of flour (atta) across the country in the context of the fundamental rights of the masses.During the course of the hearing, Taufique Asif, the counsel for the petitioner, suggested a sound basis for on-the-spot determination of flour and its availability in various parts of the country.
The court termed the suggestion of the counsel reasonable having the support of all counsel and law officers in the matter, and constituted four committees comprising Syed Attique Shah, Additional Attorney General for Pakistan, Taufique Asif, counsel for the petitioner, and the law officer of each province respectively.
The committees will ensure on-the-spot checks to assist the court in ascertaining the price and availability of flour in the context of fundamental rights enforcement.The court also directed the federal government to convene a meeting of the Federation and officials of provincial food ministries, who would propose possible ways and means through which the fundamental rights under articles 9 and 14 of the Constitution could be assured to citizens.
Rafique Rajwana, who has been appointed amicus curie (friend of the court) in the case, submitted that it was the state’s responsibility to provide essential food items at reasonable prices to citizens.
He proposed to the court to direct the federal government to convene a meeting of the responsible government functionaries of the Federation and the provinces to inform the court about the possible ways and means through which the fundamental rights could be ensured to citizens.
He contended that the procurement procedure was very difficult as the middlemen directly contacted the growers and after buying wheat from farmers exported it to Afghanistan. He informed the court that the government also bought wheat from the farmers hence, there was a need to check the attitude of flour mills.
Additional Attorney General Attique Shah said that a total of Rs40.1 billion subsidy on wheat was given by the federal and provincial governments to citizens. The AAG submitted the report which contained the input of the advocate general of all the provinces.
The court, however, termed the instant report incomplete and observed that it did not contain the relevant information and statistics to enable the court to ascertain whether the fundamental rights were indeed being ensured to citizens or not.
The court directed the law officers to submit a complete consolidated report which should also include the relevant statistical data showing that the fundamental rights had been ensured to the people.
During the hearing, Dr Shakeelur Rehman, Food Security Commissioner, Ministry of National Food Security and Research, said that a person in Pakistan required a minimum of 2,350 calories per day, which come from wheat. The government had made sure that wheat was supplied to every part of the country adding that in the whole year there was no wheat problem.
The court, in its order, recalled that on the previous date of hearing, it had noted that the minimum wage of an unskilled worker in the four provinces was Rs7,000 to Rs9,000 a month. Therefore, Dr Shakeel was asked to prepare a table to show as to how a family comprising two adults and two minors would be able to survive with dignity as per Article 14 of the Constitution within the minimum wage.Later, the court adjourned the hearing till April 22.
The observation came during the course of the hearing of a petition filed by the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Secretary General Liaquat Baloch against the increase in flour (atta) price.A two-member bench of the apex court, comprising Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Justice Mushir Alam, took up the case on Monday.
The apex court constituted four committees to ascertain the price and availability of flour (atta) across the country in the context of the fundamental rights of the masses.During the course of the hearing, Taufique Asif, the counsel for the petitioner, suggested a sound basis for on-the-spot determination of flour and its availability in various parts of the country.
The court termed the suggestion of the counsel reasonable having the support of all counsel and law officers in the matter, and constituted four committees comprising Syed Attique Shah, Additional Attorney General for Pakistan, Taufique Asif, counsel for the petitioner, and the law officer of each province respectively.
The committees will ensure on-the-spot checks to assist the court in ascertaining the price and availability of flour in the context of fundamental rights enforcement.The court also directed the federal government to convene a meeting of the Federation and officials of provincial food ministries, who would propose possible ways and means through which the fundamental rights under articles 9 and 14 of the Constitution could be assured to citizens.
Rafique Rajwana, who has been appointed amicus curie (friend of the court) in the case, submitted that it was the state’s responsibility to provide essential food items at reasonable prices to citizens.
He proposed to the court to direct the federal government to convene a meeting of the responsible government functionaries of the Federation and the provinces to inform the court about the possible ways and means through which the fundamental rights could be ensured to citizens.
He contended that the procurement procedure was very difficult as the middlemen directly contacted the growers and after buying wheat from farmers exported it to Afghanistan. He informed the court that the government also bought wheat from the farmers hence, there was a need to check the attitude of flour mills.
Additional Attorney General Attique Shah said that a total of Rs40.1 billion subsidy on wheat was given by the federal and provincial governments to citizens. The AAG submitted the report which contained the input of the advocate general of all the provinces.
The court, however, termed the instant report incomplete and observed that it did not contain the relevant information and statistics to enable the court to ascertain whether the fundamental rights were indeed being ensured to citizens or not.
The court directed the law officers to submit a complete consolidated report which should also include the relevant statistical data showing that the fundamental rights had been ensured to the people.
During the hearing, Dr Shakeelur Rehman, Food Security Commissioner, Ministry of National Food Security and Research, said that a person in Pakistan required a minimum of 2,350 calories per day, which come from wheat. The government had made sure that wheat was supplied to every part of the country adding that in the whole year there was no wheat problem.
The court, in its order, recalled that on the previous date of hearing, it had noted that the minimum wage of an unskilled worker in the four provinces was Rs7,000 to Rs9,000 a month. Therefore, Dr Shakeel was asked to prepare a table to show as to how a family comprising two adults and two minors would be able to survive with dignity as per Article 14 of the Constitution within the minimum wage.Later, the court adjourned the hearing till April 22.
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