On strike again: Petition seeks ‘strict action’ against YDA
Siddique says court should take action against young doctors under Sections 300 and Section 302 of PPC.
Siddique says court should take action against young doctors under Sections 300 and Section 302 of PPC. PHOTO: EXPRESS/FILE
LAHORE:
A petition, seeking strict action against young doctors for going on a strike, has been filed with the Lahore High Court.
Judicial Activism Panel chairman Azhar Siddique filed the writ petition, pleading that by going on a strike, the doctors had put the lives of patients at risk, which he described as “criminal negligence”. Siddique said the court should take action against them under Sections 300 (murder) and Section 302 (punishment for murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). He stated that the Young Doctors Association (YDA), registered under Section 42 of the Companies Ordinance, 1984, was protesting like a trade union, which he said violated the Constitution. According to the petition, the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), the King Edward Medical University (KEMU) and the University of Health Sciences (UHS) were the regulatory bodies of the medical professionals. The only body that could to represent doctors across Pakistan is the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), it says. Siddique said the YDA had crossed all limits and taken actions which violated fundamental rights and were seditious. The doctors are required to provide treatment to patients, he said, adding that the Supreme Court had also restrained them from going on a strike. He prayed to the court to issue directions to the PMDC and other regulatory bodies to take strict punitive action, including cancellation of practising licences of the protesting doctors. He asked the court to direct law enforcing agencies to take action against them to protect the lives of the citizens of the Punjab.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 5th, 2013.
A petition, seeking strict action against young doctors for going on a strike, has been filed with the Lahore High Court.
Judicial Activism Panel chairman Azhar Siddique filed the writ petition, pleading that by going on a strike, the doctors had put the lives of patients at risk, which he described as “criminal negligence”. Siddique said the court should take action against them under Sections 300 (murder) and Section 302 (punishment for murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). He stated that the Young Doctors Association (YDA), registered under Section 42 of the Companies Ordinance, 1984, was protesting like a trade union, which he said violated the Constitution. According to the petition, the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), the King Edward Medical University (KEMU) and the University of Health Sciences (UHS) were the regulatory bodies of the medical professionals. The only body that could to represent doctors across Pakistan is the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), it says. Siddique said the YDA had crossed all limits and taken actions which violated fundamental rights and were seditious. The doctors are required to provide treatment to patients, he said, adding that the Supreme Court had also restrained them from going on a strike. He prayed to the court to issue directions to the PMDC and other regulatory bodies to take strict punitive action, including cancellation of practising licences of the protesting doctors. He asked the court to direct law enforcing agencies to take action against them to protect the lives of the citizens of the Punjab.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 5th, 2013.