Doctors’ strike: CJ asks for inquiry commission report

Punjab govt given till February 2 on journalist’s plea.

LAHORE:

Lahore High Court Chief Justice Shaikh Azmat Saeed on Tuesday directed the Punjab government to present till February 2 the report of the inquiry commission appointed to probe and fix the responsibility for the deaths during the 37-day young doctors’ strike in March and April 2011.

The chief justice (CJ) ordered that this report should be presented in a sealed envelope. He will go through the report before issuing final orders on its implementation. A journalist, Manzoor Qadir, had filed the petition in April 2011.

The petitioner’s counsel, Gul Zaman, said that the LHC, on April 8, had ordered the Punjab government to hold an inquiry to probe into the doctors’ strike and losses during it, saying that those responsible for the losses must be identified and punished.

Chief Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed said that an inquiry commission held its proceeding after which it sent its report to Punjab chief secretary. He submitted that the commission report should have been made public but it was not done and no action was taken on the report.

The chief justice requested the court to issue directions to make the report of the inquiry commission public and direct the government to implement it.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 12^th, 2012.