Islamabad: Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday, rejected a plea against National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) directive to convert hotels into quarantine facilities amid COVID-19 outbreak.
HC Chief Justice Athar Minullah has dismissed the plea stating, “When it comes to protecting the people, the government can even use my home.”
The petitioner had filed seeking a verdict against the conversion of hotels into quarantine facilities stressing that even in a constitutional emergency, the fundamental rights cannot be revoked.
“Why does the government not use the prime minister’s home instead?” said the petitioner.
The court clarified that in these dire circumstances where the country is in a state of crisis public interests supersede the individual rights and the government is allowed to take whatever measures necessary to ensure public safety and welfare.
Prior to this, NDMA had proposed to the government to convert residential hotels of major cities into quarantine centres in an attempt to contain the spread of coronavirus in the country.
