LAHORE: The Lahore High Court directed on Monday the Climate Change Commission chairman to appear in person with a report on progress of the commission.
Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah had constituted a ‘Climate Change Commission’ for the effective implementation of National Climate Change Policy, 2012 and the Framework for Implementation of Climate Change Policy (2014-2030). The commission was made on a petition by agriculturist Asghar Leghari who questioned the apathy of authorities concerned towards climate change.
During the hearing, the Glacier Monitoring Research Centre project director said that from June to September this year glaciers melted more than previous years due to increase in temperatures. He said the glaciers were constantly being monitored, adding that the shortage of dams had caused waste of the precious water.
Justice Shah observed that the government’s projects to save new generations from climate change remained on papers. He said devising public welfare policies was the responsibility of the government but the role of the functionaries was very pathetic to this effect. The judge said courts could not tolerate government’s weaknesses on public issues. The hearing was adjourned for two weeks.
The petitioner stated federal and provincial governments were not taking steps to develop required resilience to climate change as per “Framework for Implementation of National Climate Change Policy, 2013”.
Arrest warrants: The Lahore High Court on Monday issued bailable arrest warrants for Federal Ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment Yasmeen Abbasi for not appearing before it in a contempt of court petition.
Advocate Saleem Javed had filed the petition seeking action against the ombudsperson for violating a stay order issued by the high court.
The petitioner’s counsel stated an associate of his client had filed a complaint of harassment against him (Javed) before the ombudsperson. The high court had stayed proceedings on the complaint, but the ombudsperson ignored the stay order and continued proceedings.
The counsel sought action against the ombudsperson for contempt of court. He pointed out that the respondent also ignored court’s notices and had been avoiding appearance before it.
A deputy attorney general told the court notices were duly received by the ombudsperson.
Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah expressed dismay and issued bailable warrants for the arrest of the federal ombudsperson for Dec 16.
Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2015