The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has directed the chairman of the Transplant Evaluation Committee at the Institute of Kidney Diseases, Hayatabad, to urgently convene a meeting within 15 days and decide the plea of a police constable seeking permission for a kidney transplant from a non-relative donor.
The directive came on a petition filed by Constable Rab Nawaz, who has been battling end-stage renal disease since 2009. According to his counsel, Advocate Dania Asad Chamkani, the constable's close relatives were medically unfit to donate a kidney as their blood groups did not match his. Physicians treating him have declared that a transplant remains the only viable option to save his life.
A division bench comprising Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Faheem Wali heard the case. In a detailed written order authored by Justice Wali, the court noted that Nawaz's medical condition was precarious since both kidneys had failed. Under the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Medical Transplantation Regulatory Authority Act, 2014, organ donation is ordinarily restricted to close blood relatives. However, Section 13 of the law provides an exception, authorizing the Transplant Evaluation Committee to approve donations from unrelated persons when no suitable relative is available.
The bench observed that the petitioner had been left with no alternative but to approach the judiciary. In light of the medical urgency, the judges directed the committee chairman to hold a meeting within 15 days and take a decision on the matter without further delay. The judgment underscored that the committee must weigh the petitioner's critical health condition alongside legal provisions to ensure that his fundamental right to life is not compromised.
Following these directions, the bench disposed of the petition.
In a separate development, the PHC issued a written order in a contempt of court petition concerning Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Azam Swati. The petition was filed after authorities allegedly failed to comply with previous court directives to remove the senator's name from the Exit Control List (ECL) and other travel restriction databases.
A division bench consisting of Justice Sahibzada Asadullah and Justice Waqar Ahmad directed the Ministry of Interior, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Passport and Immigration Department, and other relevant officials to submit their replies within 14 days. The court further instructed that all responses must be accompanied by sworn affidavits.
The two-page written order cautioned that failure to file the required replies within the stipulated time would leave the court with no option but to proceed with contempt proceedings against the officials concerned. The hearing of the case has been adjourned until September 24.
Earlier, Swati's counsel had informed the bench that despite clear PHC orders, the senator continued to face restrictions at airports, where he was repeatedly barred from traveling abroad. The persistent non-compliance, the lawyer argued, amounted to defiance of the court's authority, thereby necessitating contempt proceedings.
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