Viral picture suo motu: CJP summons Okara town's committee members

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Saqib Nisar has summoned on March 29 all the municipal committee members of Hujra Shah Muqeem, a small town in Okara which has gained prominence after the picture of a funeral procession passing through sewage got the court's attention.

Hearing the suo motu case today, a three-member bench led by the chief justice heard the town's councillor, who said the exact location of the picture has been identified and that he was a part of the funeral procession. 

The chief justice observed that they have to tell people they are working for their benefit. 

During the hearing, Chief Justice Nisar regretted that the clothes of those passing through sewage would have been ruined and wondered how they would have offered funeral prayers in dirty clothes.

The councillor informed the apex court of several other municipal issues of the town, after which the chief justice summoned the entire municipal committee and its chairman, who hails from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, on March 29.

The chief justice has also summoned details of the municipal committee's budget and expenses. 

On March 20, the chief justice took on Tuesday suo motu notice of a photograph circulating on social media showing a funeral procession passing over sewage in a narrow street.

In his remarks, the chief justice had said that dirtiness and pollution is a threat to human life.