Both these areas have been provincial since the promulgation of the Government of India Act, 1935.
The report said all the actions were taken under the active guidance of the Federation.
However, there may be ancillary and incidental fallout of these actions on the federal taxation regime but the lockdown is essential for the public health and maintenance of the public order.
There is no disagreement between the federal and the provincial governments in this regard.
The Sindh advocate general submitted that the Sindh government had not stopped "export" per se but "health," being a provincial subject, the Provincial Assembly of Sindh had rightfully enacted "Sindh Epidemic Diseases Act, 2014" under the provisions of which certain safety measures were adopted to control the spread of the coronavirus for the health, safety and security of the life of citizens.
The attorney general and the advocate generals of all the provinces were ordered to assist whether the provinces were competent to affect the taxation policy of the federal government in terms of Federal Legislative List, particularly the lockdown of certain industrial establishment.
A five-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, with two changes will resume hearing of suo motu on steps taken by the federal and the provincial governments for combating the coronavirus pandemic from Monday (May 18).
Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Sardar Tariq Masood are included in the bench due to non-availability of Justice Ata Bandial and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah.
In pursuance of the apex court direction dated 4th May, 2020, the Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination, Cantonment Boards, and all the provinces have filed reports.
Federal Health Ministry submitted that the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on COVID-19 was held in the Prime Minister's House on 7th May, 2020.
It was decided in the NCC that the matter of resuming the inter-city public transport and inter-provincial transport (via air, road and rail) shall be deliberated further in the NCOC meetings.
The educational institutes shall remain closed till July 15, 2020, and further extension of the period of closing down shall be reviewed in the last week of June 2020.
The provincial governments shall exercise the option of shops (except grocery and pharmacies, which are already, open) after "Fajr" prayers until 5pm.
About the steps to control the coronavirus, the Sindh government submitted that a broad-based representative committee was constituted to determine whether any given industrial unit has made adequate arrangements as per the SOPs to ensure safety of health and security of life of its workers.
The management is required to furnish complete list of the persons working in the industrial unit along with their contact detail, so that their primary and secondary contacts could be traced if a COVID-19 positive case is identified.
ZAKAT FUNDS: The Sindh submitted Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) routinely conducts annual audit of Sindh Zakat Fund, District Zakat Fund and Local Zakat fund. The AGP audited 21 field formations from July 2018 to June 2019.
The Punjab submitted that the main objection of the AGP relate to violation of rules/procedure, minor errors and non-production of record.
However, audit has admitted that there was no case of fraud, embezzlement, thefts, and misuse of public resources.
The KP advocate general file report that as per the direction of the Supreme Court, the Healthcare Commission members visited the Dabgari Garden to inquire about the maltreatment by the law enforcement agencies, and met with the doctors and health staff at Said Anwar Medical Centre, Abaseen Medical Centre, Akbar Medical Centre, and Khushal Medical Centre.
The report said that the apex court was right in its observation that the doctors and patients were suffering due to unnecessary harassment from the law enforcement agencies. There is clear sense of confusion whether to open the clinics or not despite the fact there was no ban after April 13.
The report further said that no doctor was manhandled by the law enforcement agencies however some lower staff was harassed by the district government and the police, and not by the Healthcare Commission inspectors.