After major incidents: PHC rejects plea to bar VIPs from hospital visits

Court restricts media from showing gory pictures on television

PESHAWAR: In a surprising move, the Peshawar High Court on Wednesday turned down a plea to bar ‘VIPs’ from visiting major public hospitals during emergencies to meet with the injured, even as it looked down on the practice of photo-ops in emergency wards.

A two-judge bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC), comprising of Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan and Justice Musarrat Hilali, on Wednesday disposed of a writ petition filed by advocate Muhammad Khurshid.

While the court turned down the petitioners’ plea, it did observe that such visits do have a benefit for poor patients and the injured receiving treatment at the hospital.

”Hospital visits by VIPs in an emergency situation just for a photo session is wrong,” Justice Qaiser observed.  He added it will be more appropriate if everyone performs the duty properly to help the injured one in a proper manner.

He added that in the past the people of the city had suffered a lot due to terror attacks, but the security situation in the city has improved since. Thus, it was not necessary to impose a ban on VIPs now.

The court further noted that it was the duty of hospital administration to ensure the provision of healthcare facilities to patients under any circumstance.

Doctors were directed to focus on providing health facilities to the injured instead of tending to VIPs during their visit to hospitals.

The bench, though, reserved some criticism for the media noting that in the race to report, they do not follow journalistic ethics.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2018.