The Lahore High Court on Thursday restrained the payment of Rs 0.5 million in annual fees required to be paid by a medial student to the Shaikh Zayed Medical College (SZMC). The court also sought a reply from the federal secretary cabinet division, director general of health, and the chairman of Shaikh Zayed Hospital (SZH). Justice Muhammad Khalid Mehmood Khan passed the order on a petition filed by Pakistan Medical Association Joint Secretary Dr Salman Kazmi against the unjustified fee structure of the college.
The court also restrained the SZMC chairman from harassing the student. Earlier, the petitioner’s counsel Noshab Khan submitted before the court that the SZMC was under the administrative control of the federal government, but was charging Rs 480,000 from students as tuition fees for each academic year, whereas other public sector medical and dental institutions in Punjab were only charging Rs 12000-14000. The counsel termed the fee structure of the SZMC unfair as it was receiving grants from the public exchequer. The counsel pleaded the court to declare the SZMC fee structure as illegal and for the respondents to bring their institutions’ fee structure at par with other medical and dental institutions in Punjab. The court adjourned the matter till February 27.
LHC commission questions PIC pharmacist: The Lahore High Court judicial commission, which was set up to probe into the deaths of more than120 patients in the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) case, on Thursday cross-questioned Muhammad Yousaf, a PIC pharmacist as a witness to the fiasco resulting from the supply of defective drugs to the hospital.
He recorded his statement on oath and produced certain documents in support of his statements. The tribunal questioned him about various aspects of the matter. Zulfiqar Ali, the store keeper of PIC, also appeared before the tribunal and was directed to bring the record on Friday. Notices have already been issued to Muhammad Tariq Rehman, the proprietor, and Musharraf, the partner of Omar Trading Company. Omar Trading Company, the distributor of Efroze Chemicals, allegedly supplied Isotab Tablets to the PIC, which were subsequently found to contain large quantities of antimalarial pyremethamine.
The commission comprising LHC judge Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan is probing the matter to ascertain the causes of the deaths, to determine if the causes are related to the use of the drugs, the source of the drugs and to make recommendations for the prevention of such incidents in the future. Since the matter is of great public importance, the tribunal is conducting the proceedings on a day to day basis.
LHC seeks reply from government on CCPO’s appointment: The Lahore High Court on Thursday issued a notice and sought a reply from the federal and provincial governments within two weeks on a petition that challenged the appointment of Haji Habibur Rehman as the Inspector General of Police (IGP) in Punjab. Justice Najam ul Hasan passed the orders on a petition filed by the petitioner’s counsel Muhammad Fakhir.
Earlier, the petitioner’s counsel submitted before the court that Haji Habibur Rehman was the Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) of Lahore when the attack on the Sri Lankan team took place. He submitted that not only the LHC judicial enquiry commission had declared Rehman guilty to some extent, but the departmental enquiry had also termed him an irresponsible and negligent police officer after the incident.
He alleged that his appointment had been politically motivated and directions should be issued to remove him from the post. The court sought a reply from the federal and provincial governments within two weeks.
