Covid-positive lawyer causes alarm in court

A lawyer caused a brief panic in the Supreme Court yesterday when he revealed during a hearing that he was suffering from Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The episode occurred while Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed was hearing a case in a full Courtroom No.1 in Islamabad.

“I am appearing in your court despite having coronavirus,” Barrister Dr Adnan Khan told the top judge.

His disclosure caused alarm in the court, with the chief justice expressing displeasure at his appearance in spite of his positive diagnosis. “Why have you shown up in court? You are playing with others’ lives,” Justice Ahmed told Khan.

In response, Barrister Khan said he had submitted an application to adjourn a case in a different court after testing positive for the virus, but that request was rejected. He suggested he decided to show up using that as a precedent. “I came because an important case was being heard today of lecturers of the Higher Education [Commission],” said the lawyer, who was representing lecturers in the case. Unconvinced by his explanation, the CJP directed the counsel to submit his arguments in writing instead and immediately leave the courtroom.

Barrister Khan subsequently left the court. According to experts, Pakistan is currently experiencing the second wave of the coronavirus with infections, positivity rate and deaths all on the rise. Federal and provincial governments have stepped up restrictions to try and control the spread of the virus.