The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday directed the authorities concerned to submit a detailed report on skyrocketing prices of wheat and sugar. A single bench of LHC comprising Justice Sajid Seth was hearing a writ petition seeking directives for the government to bring down the prices of essential food items. Over the course of the hearing, the court asked why the prices of sugar and wheat are going up. The bench directed the relevant authorities to submit a detailed report spelling out what measures they have taken thus far to control food prices. The hearing was adjourned until December 04. Meanwhile, a petition has been filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday seeking court’s order against the upcoming protest meeting by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) in Lahore. A petition filed by Advocate Nadeem Sarwar has made the federal government, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), PDM, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) as parties in the petition. A health emergency has been enforced in the country in the wake of coronavirus, the petition said. The PDM held protest rallies despite the government’s ban on large public meetings, which are causing a spike in coronavirus cases, according to the petition. “The PDM leadership is playing with the lives and health of the people,” the petition said. The petitioner observed that “the educational institutions have been closed and other gatherings have been banned due to the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic in the country.” He asked the court to restrain the PDM from holding a public rally in Lahore and order legal action over violation of the government’s coronavirus SOPs. Earlier, the Lahore High Court had dismissed a petition of the same nature by the Young Doctors Association in October seeking court ruling to restrain protest activities by the political parties expected to risk their lives and expose thousands of people to Covid-19 pandemic.