KARACHI: The setting up of consumer protection courts in the province is still an unrealised goal as the provincial government has been dragging its feet on their establishment despite repeated orders of the Sindh High Court, it emerged on Monday.

Hearing a constitutional petition seeking the establishment of consumer protection courts, a two-judge bench expressed displeasure over non-compliance with the court’s order and directed the provincial government for the umpteenth time to inform it regarding the progress in setting up the courts.

On Monday, a provincial government law officer appeared in court to seek further time for filing compliance report.

The bench put off the matter to April 25, directing the law officer to intimate the court about the establishment of the consumer protection courts.

The matter had been lingering for the past one year, although the SHC has repeatedly directed the provincial government to expedite the process of establishing the consumer protection courts.

Even the SHC registrar had written to the deputy director of the provincial bureau of supply and prices to make “utmost efforts for early availability of office accommodation for establishing consumer protection courts in Karachi, Hyderabad and Larkana divisions”, but to no avail as nothing has been done in that direction.

Petitioner Imran Shahzad, a civil rights campaigner, said the SHC had also asked the

provincial authorities to make immediate appointments of ancillary staff for the consumer courts, but the process was yet to start.

The petitioner stated that the court had earlier ordered the provincial government to immediately establish consumer protection courts under the Sindh Consumer Protection Bill, which was also ordered to be implemented in letter and spirit.

However, he said, the respondent provincial authorities did not comply with the court’s orders.

The petitioner said he, time and again, approached the relevant authorities for the establishment of consumer protection courts and implementation of the Consumer Protection Bill in letter and spirit, but no steps were being taken by the authorities.

The petitioner asked the court to direct the provincial gov­ernment to immediately est­ablish the consumer protection courts.

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2017