Govt ordered to allocate spots for hospital waste disposal

–CJP orders NAB to complete Sargodha University transcripts issue probe within one week

— Justice Nisar appreciates the efforts of Sargodha University vice chancellor against powerful owners of private sub-campuses

LAHORE: The Supreme Court on Saturday directed the Punjab government to allocate specific sites for the disposal of hazardous waste of public hospitals across the province.

A bench of the top court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar, gave the direction while hearing a suo motu case regarding the disposal of hospital waste.

At the previous hearing, the chief justice had directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to conduct an inquiry into a contract awarded to a private company for burning of the waste of public hospitals in the provincial capital.

The court was informed that a private company was awarded a contract for disposal and burning of hospital waste.

It expressed concern over the transparency of the award of the contract and decided to get it investigated.

SARGODHA UNIVERSITY TRANSCRIPTS CASE:

CJP on Saturday also directed the National Accountancy Bureau (NAB) Lahore director general to complete the inquiry regarding the transcripts issue of Sargodha University within a week and submit its report to the court.

While hearing a suo-moto case on the petition of students of varsity’s private campuses at the Lahore Registry of the Supreme Court, he further asked the NAB DG to hear the University of Sargodha vice chancellor, who had put his job at stake by exposing the sub-campuses scam involving influential people.

The chief justice expressed concern over the poor quality of the sub-campuses, adding that they were distributing degrees without a regular faculty in place.

While appearing before the court, the Sargodha University vice chancellor Dr Ishtiaq Ahmad said that the private sub-campuses students’ transcript issue had been resolved according to the court’s order.

He highlighted the unlawful constitution of the five sub-campuses, including Lahore and Mandi Bahauddin campuses, which were not even approved by the varsity syndicate.

The VC further said that the private campuses had been turned into money making machines, cheating the poor and lower-middle-class parents and playing with the future of the youth.  He sought the closure of these campuses and urged NAB to bring the culprits to book as the watchdog was already investigating the matter.

The chief justice appreciated the efforts of the vice chancellor against the powerful owners of the private sub-campuses.

Separately, the top court bench also took up a suo motu case regarding the appointment of the head of Overseas Pakistanis Commission Punjab.

During the proceedings, a NAB official submitted a report about the appointment of former head of the commission, Afzaal Bhatti.

It was stated in the report that Afzaal Bhatti’s appointment was made against the rules and regulations. To this, the CJP directed NAB to recover the amount paid to Afzaal Bhatti under the head of the salary.