Ensuring fundamental rights under Articles 9 and 14: Supreme Court asks federal government to convene meeting

The Supreme Court on Monday issued directives to the federal government to convene a meeting of the concerned officials from the centre and provinces for devising possible ways and means to ensure constitutional fundamental rights to citizens.
Appearing before a two-judge bench of Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja in response to a plea of Jamaat-i-Islami regarding a surge in flour price, Rafique Rajwana being amicus curiæ in the case conceded that it was the state's responsibility to provide essential food items at reasonable prices to citizens.
He urged the court to direct the federal government to convene a meeting of the responsible government functionaries of the federation and the provinces for the purpose of informing the Court about possible ways and means through which the fundamental rights under Articles 9 and 14 of the Constitution can be ensured to the citizens of Pakistan.
Rajwana further said that procurement procedure is quite difficult as the middlemen directly contact the growers and after buying wheat from framers they often export it to Afghanistan.
He said the government also buys wheat from farmers, adding that there was a need to check the attitude of flour-mills. Additional Attorney General Attique Shah submitted that federal government gives a Rs 40.1 billion subsidy on wheat to its citizens. He also submitted a report pertaining to the input of the Advocates General of all the provinces in pursuance of court orders.
Expressing dissatisfaction over a report relating to flour prices, the bench observed that relevant information has not been made available to the court to ascertain whether the fundamental rights are indeed being ensured to the citizens of the country. Dr Shakeelur Rehman, Food Security Commissioner in Ministry of National Food Security and Research, informed the court that a person in Pakistan requires minimum of 2350 calories per day, which mainly come from the wheat. He submitted that the government ensures that wheat is supplied to every part of the country, adding that during the whole year there was no wheat problem.
In its order, the court said that Dr Shakeelur Rehman, and Taufiq Asif, counsel for the applicant Liaquat Baloch, have been heard, adding that there is a general opinion amongst all of these gentlemen that an effort is required to ensure that the minimum nutritional needs of citizens are met. The bench was informed that the minimum wage of an unskilled worker in the four provinces is from Rs 7,000 to Rs 9,000; to which the court directed Dr Shakeel to prepare a table to show as to how a family comprising two adults and two minors would be able to survive with dignity as per Article 14 of the Constitution within the minimum wage. The hearing of case was adjourned till April 22.