Medical board formed to examine Sharjeel Memon’s reports

SC constitutes board to investigate basis on which former minister was shifted to JPMC from jail

KARACHI: The Supreme Court (SC) constituted on Saturday a four-member medical board to examine a report on the basis of which former provincial information minister Sharjeel Inam Memon was shifted from prison for treatment to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC).

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, further directed the board, which will also include a neurosurgeon from the army, to submit its report within 15 days.

The top judge warned that appropriate orders would be passed against the doctors who had suggested shifting the Pakistan Peoles Party (PPP) leader from jail to hospital for treatment, if the report was found to be false grounds.

Also comprising justices Faisal Arab and Sajjad Ali Shah, the bench was hearing a suo motu case relating to transfer of Memon, death row convict Shahrukh Jatoi and other prisoners from jails to hospitals outside the prisons at the SC's Karachi Registry.

At the outset, Prisons Inspector-General Nusrat Mangan filed a report, stating that the former minister had been shifted back from the JPMC to Central Jail, Karachi, while Jatoi had also been shifted back to the Malir jail.



He stated that currently, there were only nine prisoners shifted to hospitals outside the prisons for medical treatment. The prison police chief's report contradicted his earlier report submitted to the apex court two days ago, which had disclosed that 42 convicts and under-trial suspects were under treatment outside jails.

Justice Nisar inquired from JPMC Executive Director Dr Seemin Jamali to name the doctors who had suggested admission of the former minister at the hospital for treatment.

The top judge expressed his extreme displeasure as to why the doctors on whose opinion the former minister was admitted to the JPMC had not suggested his surgery, despite the fact he remained under treatment for three weeks.

He remarked that it was not the duty of the doctors to become party to and issue false medical certificates. He cautioned that appropriate orders would be passed in case the medical report was found to be false.

The CJP cautioned that the court might pass an order for the transfer of corruption-related cases against Memon and co-accused to Punjab.

Advocate Rasheed A Razvi, who appeared on behalf of Memon, pleaded that the court may allow provision of medical treatment facilities to his client without any interruption, as he badly needed it.



Footpath school

Meanwhile, the bench appointed Barrister Salahuddin Ahmed as commissioner to inspect a school being run on the footpath near Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s shrine in Clifton and a nearby government school, where the education secretary proposed to construct eight additional classrooms to accommodate the street children.

The commission will submit its report within 10 days. Earlier, the provincial education secretary accused a representative of the NGO running the footpath school of not sharing details of the street children enrolled. On the other hand, the representative alleged that the secretary's wife was maligning her and some officials were humiliating her for running the footpath school.

The CJP remarked that no child would be allowed to study on the footpath, asking the representative to share complete details with the officials. He also asked the secretary not to misbehave with the representative in the future and provide alternative space and other facilities to the street children until proper arrangements were made.

Private colleges

While hearing a suo motu regarding exorbitant fees charged by private medical colleges, the CJP remarked that the court may pass an order for refund of the excessive fee to the students and order the initiation of criminal proceedings against the management if inspections found a lack of required teaching facilities.



He remarked that the court had availed services of a chartered accountant firm to assess the fee for the private medical colleges, adding that in case any college was found involved in charging excessive fee the management would be ordered to refund it to the students.

He expressed extreme displeasure over the representatives of the Young Doctors' Association for appearing along with parents of two students, who were charged extra fee by the medical colleges. The top judge told the representatives to abstain in the future from appearing with anyone just to put 'pressure' on the court.

The provincial health secretary informed the court that 30 medical superintendents had submitted their reports regarding conditions at their respective public hospitals.

The CJP observed that the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council had already prepared the terms of the inspections of the medical colleges and adjourned the hearing till March 31.