Executive has failed to deliver, says CJP

–Top judge regrets that apex court has to perform duties of the govt after PIMS official tells court that CADD Ministry ignored pleas to regularise staff

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Saqib Nisar on Monday repeated his stance that the judiciary was intervening in the affairs of the government as the latter was not doing the needful.

The top judge was hearing the suo motu case of the closing down of the Bone Marrow Transplant Center (BMTC) at PIMS. The BMTC was reopened later on Monday on the CJP’s orders.

Last week, parents of children with thalassemia appealed the top court to take notice of imminent closing down of BMTC, stating that hospital staff has not been paid their monthly salaries since July 2017 and were told that their contracts have been terminated due to an administrative issue.

On March 29, the CJP took suo moto notice and ordered the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) to submit the report within three days.

During the hearing, CJP ordered PIMS authorities to pay outstanding dues of staff and reinstate employees who have been terminated, adding current staff will keep working until next appointments are made.

The chief justice also ordered to appoint new staff through Punjab Public Service Commission.

CJP ‘REGRETS’ DOING GOVT’S JOB:

Answering the CJP’s query about closing down of BMTC, Dr Amjad from PIMS told the court that the step was taken after two doctors and one nurse were not offered permanent positions.

“The hospital authorities had written to CADD 13 times but the department had not offered permanent positions to the staff,” Dr Amjad said.

Upon this CJP regretted that top court had to perform the duties of the executive.

DEPUTATION ISSUE:

Meanwhile, hearing the issue of deputed officers, Justice Nisar remarked till the final decision on repatriation of health officials, who were merged with federal hospitals, no one will be transferred back to their parent department.

There are numerous doctors, who are working in different hospitals, were not sent back despite court orders in 2016 when officers from other departments were repatriated to their institutions.
The report divided them into five types and recommended repatriate all health officials to their institutions advised those lady doctors who come under the wedlock policy that they cannot be repatriated.

Chief Justice Saqib Nisar had earlier remarked that the judiciary was forced to intervene in the work of the executive due to a lack of performance in the institutions and the discomfort of the general public.

The CJP had said that the judiciary did not want to interfere in executive matters but was “compelled” to do so due to the “poor state of affairs”.

“When we do interfere, it is said that we are foolish to interfere in the work of executive,” he had said while expressing anguish at the abysmal state of affairs in the Sindh health department.

Responding to the chief justice’s censure of the government, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi criticised the judiciary for indulging in political matters, saying political decisions should be made through polling stations and not the courts.

The premier called for letting the voters make political decisions, as he reprimanded the judiciary for disqualifying former prime minister Nawaz Sharif from the executive office and party presidency.

For the past few days, tensions between the executive and judiciary have heightened, especially after PM Abbasi’s ‘one-on-one’ meeting with Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar.

A day after the meeting, the top judge was quoted by the media as saying that “the PM had come as a faryadi to him”. Although the apex court denied the use of the word faryadi for the PM by the CJP, the controversy took an ugly turn when Abbasi  publically said that he went to the CJP as a faryadi, however, for the sake of the country.

Continuing with his ‘power-to-the-government’ rhetoric, the premier lamented the treatment meted out to the politicians of the country, giving the example of Nawaz Sharif, who according to him was “being pushed away from the people”.

“It is a strange tradition that whosoever solves the country’s problems is dragged into the courts, removed from posts and attempts are made to push [him] away from the people,” he said.

The PM warned that such tradition will harm to the political set up in the country as it bore no respect for the system.