The inquiry tribunal, set up to probe deaths caused by Punjab Institute of Cardiology’s (PIC) spurious medicines, on Thursday appointed a commission to visit the factory premises of Efroz Chemical Industries at Karachi. The commission will inspect the premises, production and storage facilities and examine the relevant records regarding procurement, manufacture, sales and dispatch of medicines produced in the factory. The commission will also visit the Drug Testing Laboratory, meet Federal Drug Inspector, collect information from the investigating officer at Karachi and submit its report to the tribunal. The tribunal also summoned former Punjab Health Secretary Jahanzeb Khan Barki, Chairman PIC Procurement Committee and CEO PIC on February 20. The tribunal comprises Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan, who was conducting hearings on day-to-day basis. On Thursday, the tribunal recorded the statements of World health Organisation (WHO) representatives, including EMM Coordinator Team Leader Syed Khalid Saeed Bukhari, Anti-Counterfeiting Programme Quality Assurance & Safety Michael Deats, Regional Advisor, Essential Medicines and Pharmaceutical Policies Muhammad Ahmad bin Shahna, and Chief Pharmacist Ms Trudi Hilton. They also produced evidence in support of their statements.
Further, Prof Dr Muhammad Azhar, former Chief Executive, PIC also appeared and his supplementary statement was recorded. It is pertinent to mention that the tribunal will complete its inquiry within 30 days and submit a report to the government. It will determine elements responsible for the negligence and suggest measures to stop such incidents in the future. Lahore High Court Chief Justice Sh Azmat Saeed had constituted the tribunal after being approached by the Punjab government.
BLIND CANDIDATE CASE Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan of the Lahore High Court on Thursday ordered Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) to take the interview of a blind candidate for the post of English lecturer under the two percent quota for the handicapped. The court passed the order on a petition filed by Jabber Hussain, a MA English blind candidate, through his counsel Azhar Siddique contending that PPSC was paying no heed to the quota reserved for handicapped candidates and had failed him in an interview. The judge also sought reply within two weeks from PPSC, Punjab government and Higher Education Commission (HEC) on the matter.
The petitioner said he had passed MA English, had done the English Teaching Course and applied for the post of lecturer after PPSC advertised the 1,456 posts in Punjab. He said he applied according to the conditions laid down in the advertisement and qualified the test with a serial number of 1,038 in the merit list out of total 1,456 seats. However, he had been declared as ‘failed’ in the interview conducted by the commission on January 16 despite the two percent quota he said, adding that later he visited the PPSC officer and pleaded his case but all his endeavours remained in vain. After hearing the arguments the court observed that it is the fundamental constitutional right of the handicapped people to get jobs in all departments and accordingly a quota was reserved for them under the law of the land. The judge was of the view that not the physically challenged people were an integral part of the society and deserved our sympathies but it was also their right to get jobs.
