Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar. PHOTO: EXPRESS
This was expressed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Saqib Nisar while visiting the facility — which mostly deals with inmates suffering from mental disorders.
During the visit, Justice Nisar grilled the hospital management, specifically the Sarhad Hospital for Psychiatry Disease’s Medical Superintendent Dr Naseem Afridi.
“Is this what you use for serving food among the hospital patients?,” the CJP asked Afridi while holding up plates in the hospital’s kitchen.
“Show this to the general public otherwise action will be taken against you,” CJP told the accompanying news media.
CJP also expressed anger over the accommodation facility for patients in the hospital after spotting two patients lying on a single bed while a few patients lay handcuffed even within the hospital premises.
“Is this the way you treat patients,” the CJP asked Dr Afridi.
Justice Nisar also expressed dissatisfaction over the condition of the hospital beds and summoned both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Secretary Azam Khan and Health Secretary Abid Majeed to provide and explanation.
Samples of some of the medicines being administered to patients were also taken and the CJP directed his staff to check them for quality.
The CJP also summoned the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Pervez Khattak. Khattak appeared just 10 minutes later and together with the chief secretary and the health secretary, the party disappeared inside the central prison.
With media not allowed inside the prison, sources told The Express Tribune that the CJP was satisfied with the facilities in the jail. However, the top juror did express concerns over the capacity of the facility.
“He found things in order inside the prison but what he was concerned about was that the facility was overcrowded,” security personnel within the facility said, adding that the chief minister had sought time from the CJP to apprise him about K-P’s situation before and after the 2013 general elections.
While talking to the media after CJP left for the Supreme Court Registry in the provincial capital, Khattak stated that the government had admitted that the situation inside the prison hospital was unsatisfactory, however, a new facility was being built which is expected to be completed by June.
“Yes, I have sought time from the CJP to explain him the province’s situation before Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government took over in 2013,” he said adding, “I know well the situation inside the prison since I have spent some days there.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 10th, 2018.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ