The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday issued notices for May 31 to the Punjab government, Young Doctors’ Association (YDA) and others on a petition seeking directions for action against doctors who have announced a fresh strike from May 12 in hospitals after an earlier strike of 37 days, which caused deaths of several patients.
LHC Chief Justice (CJ) Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry also issued notices to the respondents on an application for restraining the possible strike by doctors on May 12. He observed that the Punjab government had announced a package for doctors and there was no reason to observe a strike now. If any doctor observes strike, then action against him would be considered according to law, the LHC CJ added.
The petition was filed by Muhammad & Ahmad, a public interest litigation firm, through their counsel Azhar Siddique, wherein 25 respondents including the Punjab government, Pakistan Medical and Dental Association (PMDC), Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), YDA, the inspector general of Punjab Police and various doctor organisations were made parties.
The counsel submitted that doctors had violated the PMDC rules and code of ethics by observing a 37-days strike. He said that as a result of the strike, 200 patients lost their lives but no action was taken against doctors, which encouraged them to observe a strike again. Siddique said that the LHC CJ on April 8 had ordered the Punjab government to hold an inquiry into the doctors’ 37-day strike and losses incurred during it.
The CJ directed that people responsible for the losses must be determined and punished, he added. The petitioner’s counsel said that doctors had again announced a strike on May 12, without waiting for the inquiry commission report.
He said that the act was a violation of court orders and an attempt to take innocent lives of citizens, therefore, the strike might be declared illegal and unconstitutional.
Siddiqui requested the court that directions might be given to the PMDC for taking action against doctors who were involved in the 37-days strike and who have again announced a strike on May 12. He also requested the court that directions might be issued to police to register criminal cases against all those who were involved in any exercise of taking innocent lives.
The petitioner’s counsel also requested that directions might be issued to the Punjab government for implementation of the Punjab Health Care Commission Act 2010 in letter and spirit. Siddiqui requested the court to issue directions to the PMDC for taking action against doctors involved in a 37-days strike and who have again announced a strike on May 12.
— orders correct printing of Holy Quran: Lahore High Court Justice Sheikh Ahmad Farooq directed the government on Tuesday to strictly adhere to Article 31(2) a) of the Constitution calling for correct printing and publication of the Holy Quran. The court also directed the government to enforce and implement the provisions of the Punjab Holy Quran Act(Printing and Recording Act, 2011) regarding printing and recording of the Holy Quran in line with the parameters laid down under under the Holy Quran Act, 1973.
The court also directed the government to lay down procedures for retrieving, collecting and preserving the damaged/dilapidated Quran copies. The court passed these orders in a petition by Punjab Quran Board member Muhammad Nazim-ud-Din who had sought directions against the Auqaf secretary and the Ministry of Religious Affairs, invoking the Publication of Holy Quran (Elimination of Printing and Recording Errors) Act, 1973.
The petitioner maintained that the respondents were not strictly following the provisions of the Quran Act by not printing copies of the Holy Quran on the Quran paper weighing 54 grams and also not properly preserving the damaged Quran copies.
Mian Sikander, the counsel for the petitioner, argued that it was the duty of the respondents to ensure printing of the Holy Quran on a 54-gram paper, but they never implemented the act in letter and spirit, thus the weight of the Quran paper decreased gradually from 52 grams to 45 grams, and to subsequently to 40 and 35 grams, equivalent to the weight of an ordinary newspaper.
Asad Manzoor Butt, the counsel for Jamaat-e-Islami, argued that the Holy Quran is the religious book of the Muslims all over the world, but it has been noted with grave concern that due care and diligence is not given by the publishers in printing this holy book.
Additional Advocate General Jawad Hassan told the court that after the 18th Amendment, the subjects of Auqaf and Islamic Education have been devolved to the provinces and a new provincial law called the Punjab Holy Quran (Printing & Recording) Act, 2011 (the “2011 Act”) had been enacted to ensure that the copies of the Holy Quran were published error-free and that damaged copies were properly disposed of.
