Schools told to deploy guards at student vans

CJ also summoned the advocate general to assist the court on removal of lacunae in the organ transplant law

LAHORE: Lahore High Court Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah directed the school administrations last week to deploy security guards at pick-and-drop vans for schoolchildren.

The judge issued these directives on Advocate Zain Sikandar’s petition seeking directions for schools to deploy security guards on student vans. He said that incidents of kidnapping of schoolchildren had been on the rise and most of the children were kidnapped on their way to school or on way home. He said that parents were concerned about the security of their children.

A law officer informed the court on behalf of the Punjab government that boundary walls of 4,000 public and 2,000 private schools in A and A+ categories had been raised and secured using barbed wire. He said that security personnel had been deployed at these schools. Prof Faisal Masood, vice chancellor of the Kind Edward Medical University, informed the court that organs of children below five years of age could not be transplanted in adults. He however said there were lacunae in the organ transplant law that should be removed. After the hearing, the chief justice directed the police to monitor school vans and ensure deployment of security guards.

The chief justice also summoned the advocate general to assist the court on removal of lacunae in the organ transplant law. Advocate General Shakilur Rehman told the media on Friday that the government had taken steps to recover the missing children and made gains in this regard. He said the media should report on this issue responsibly.

Khawaja Hassaan

The LHC issued notices to the election commission and the provincial government last week on a petition challenging eligibility of Khawaja Ahmad Hassaan as a candidate for Lahore mayor’s office. Petitioner Waqas Aslam submitted through his counsel Sheraz Zaka that Hassaan had been serving as chairman of the Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Lahore Development Authority and Lahore Transport Company until recently. He said that Hassaan could not contest the election for city mayor’s office until two years after his retirement. He asked the court to disqualify Hassaan as a chairman of Union Council-107 and stop him from contesting the election for Lahore mayor’s office.

Justice Atir Mahmood issued notices to the respondents for September 5. He rejected the plea of the counsel for the election commission that the petitioner should be directed to move the election commission against Hassaan. The judge said that it was not appropriate for the election commission to speak on behalf of a candidate for mayor’s office.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29^th, 2016.