LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif will appear before the Supreme Court on Sunday at 11:00am after being summoned by a three-member bench of the apex court in a suo motu case pertaining to non-provision of potable water in the province.
While expressing displeasure over the lack of provision of clean water in the provincial capital, the bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar had asked Punjab Chief Secretary Zahid Saeed to find out when Shehbaz Sharif would appear before the court.
After a report by the provincial government revealed that 540 million gallons of polluted water was being drained into river Ravi, Justice Nisar asked for Sharif to appear before the court and apprise it of measures being taken for drainage of wastewater.
“If we can summon Sindh’s chief minister over pollution, why should we not summon Punjab’s [chief minister]?” the CJP asked.
“If this is happening in Lahore, what will be the situation in other cities of Punjab,” he said.
It asked the provincial chief secretary to find out when Sharif would appear before the court.
Submitting his reply, Zahid Saeed said: “The chief minister is busy in an event in Badshahi Mosque today due to which he couldn’t appear before the court immediately,” while assuring the court that the chief minister will appear on Sunday.
Following the provincial chief secretary’s statement, the top court adjourned the hearing until February 11.
At the previous hearing, the top court summoned Zahid Saeed and reprimanded him over the lack of clean drinking water available in the province.
According to a report submitted by the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR), water samples collected from the chief justice’s chamber were found to be contaminated.
CJP Nisar threatened to issue a stay order against the Punjab government’s Orange Line Metro Train project, if it didn’t improve healthcare and educational facilities.
The CJP had asked the chief secretary to explain as to how many new medical facilities were established in the past ten years and why the provincial government has not set its priorities?
The people were being made to drink water contaminated with arsenic and other poisonous chemicals, he observed.
About time Drama e Aalah Show-baz Sharif is put through the motions of a reality check.
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