ISLAMABAD: Taking notice of non-adherence to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for prevention of spread of coronavirus, the Supreme Court has barred entry into the court premises of people wearing no face mask or bypassing temperature and symptoms checking and not passing through the disinfectant tunnel.

A notification issued by the Supreme Court on Friday and was enforced immediately ordered that face mask would be worn during the entire time any individual was within the court premises.

The notification said it had been noticed that the preventive measures for minimising spread of Covid-19 were not being fully observed by staff members of the Supreme Court, employees of other offices located in the court building and general public, visitors and litigants.

Therefore, the notification said, the competent authority had taken notice of this trend and ordered that wearing of face mask and getting checked for fever/temperature was mandatory for all persons on entering the premises of the apex court at the principal seat of Islamabad and branch registries at Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta.

On Monday last, Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed had also taken notice of violation of social distancing in the Supreme Court.

Heading a five-judge bench, the chief justice had asked during a case hearing why the courtroom was jam-packed. “What happened to the formula of social distancing? Who are you and why are you sitting here,” he asked while pointing at the lawyers, media persons and litigants/people present in the courtroom.

“I don’t want something to happen in this court. You should care about social distancing and take precautionary measures,” the chief justice had said.

All judges are wearing face masks according the SOPs issued by the government as part of the precautionary measures against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2020