A petition has been filed in the Lahore High Court against the Punjab government and City District Government Lahore (CDGL) against their failure to control the dengue outbreak in the provincial metropolis.
The petitioner counsel Noshab A Khan filed the petition against Punjab Health Secretary, Lahore district coordination officer and CDGL. He submitted that the dengue had become an epidemic in Lahore and other parts of the province, while senior provincial government functionaries were trying to hide true threats of dengue by concealing facts, which was resulting in deaths of many citizens. He said that the actual number of dengue patients in Lahore was hundred times more than the number reported. He contended that the Punjab Health Department and CDGL had not taken adequate measures and had failed to launch effective programmes to control the disease. He submitted that ineffective insecticide was being used by the CDGL in the ongoing fumigation process.
The petitioner contended that the respondents were duty bound to take all necessary measures to avoid this epidemic but they had failed which was an utter violation of their mandate. He contended that non-fulfilment of the responsibility by the respondents was an infringement of fundamental rights. The petitioner prayed that the respondents be summoned in the court to explain their position.
Three LHC judges sworn in: Three additional ad-hoc judges of the Lahore High Court (LHC) took oath of their offices as confirmed judges on Monday. LHC Chief Justice (CJ) Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry administered oath to the newly-confirmed judges, including Justice Sagheer Ahmed Qadri, Justice Khawaja Imtiaz Ahmed and Justice Qasim Khan. The oath-taking ceremony was held at the LHC Committee Room, which was attended by other LHC judges, law officers and families of the judges. According to details, President Asif Ali Zardari, on advice of the PM, had given his assent on August 24 to confirm the judges after completing the required constitutional process. Justice Sagheer Ahmed Qadri and Justice Khawaja Imtiaz Ahmed were appointed as ad-hoc judges for one year on September 15, 2009. They were granted extension in their ad-hoc period. Justice Qasim Khan was appointed as ad-hoc judge on February 19, 2010.
