ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court observed on Tuesday that it appeared that a substantial number of people in the country had been deprived of the fundamental right to a dignified life as enshrined in the constitution.

The condemning observation came against the backdrop of its order of April 14 when the court had asked the federal and provincial governments to submit data to prove that they were doing enough to ensure that people could survive on the minimum wage and had access to essential food items, as envisioned in articles 9 and 14 of the constitution.

A two-judge bench headed by Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja had taken up an application of Jamaat Islami Secretary General Liaquat Baloch which highlighted the plight of hopeless people who were forced to buy wheat flour at exorbitant price though Pakistan was an agricultural country.

Because the unprecedented price hike, the petition said, poor people found it difficult to make both ends meet and provide bread and butter to their families.

At the last hearing, the court had ordered setting up of four committees, one each for a province, to conduct spot checks in the market to ascertain the price/availability of flour.

On Tuesday, the court noted that the reports based on the committees’ visits to markets reflected that fundamental rights might not be presently available to a substantial number of people.

The situation appeared to have been accepted by the law officers or the provincial and federal government, the court said.

The court decided to consider how relevant data could be obtained because information based on data gathered by the Bureau of Statistics and provided to it was outdated.

The court noted that the instances provided by Food Security Commissioner Dr Shakeel Ahmed Khan of the Ministry of National Food Security vastly varied. “While in one instance the price of essential food items needed for a month has been given as Rs6,200 there is another case where this amount comes to Rs14,858,” Justice Khawaja said.

Besides, he said, the figures were related to the bare, essential food items required for the survival of a family of four comprising two adults and two children and excluded other needs like electricity, water, gas, travelling, school fees, clothing and shelter which were necessary for a dignified life.

He said that the federal and the provincial governments had the responsibility to ensure fundamental rights of the citizens of the state.

The case will be taken up again on May 2.