F.P. Report
LAHORE: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has barred admission in all private medical colleges countrywide.
According to the details, the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday barred all unregistered medical colleges across the country from admitting students, warning of serious consequences if they fail to comply with the orders.
A two-member bench of the SC, headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar, passed the order while hearing a suo moto case regarding high medical colleges fees.
CJP summoned details of fee structure of all private medical colleges and barred admission in medical colleges countrywide until further notice. CJP Justice Saqib Nisar sought details of bank accounts of private colleges’ owners and announced that keeping in mind the urgency of the situation for the students and their parents, the case will also be heard on Saturday and Sunday.
Commenting on the situation of the private medical colleges, the CJP stated that unsuitable conditions were being provided yet the owners of all such institutions demanded a high fee from the student body.
Justice Nisar expressed concern over medical colleges and hospitals receiving exorbitant fees from patients and students. “I was criticised when I visited Mayo Hospital, but I will go personally whenever the issue is about my children’s health.”
“It seems some medical colleges are also being run from small houses and garages,” he remarked.
Ordering that the fee structures of medical colleges and bank account details of their owners be presented to the court, Justice Nisar also wa-rned private colleges against backdating admissions of students to bypass the order issued. Adjourning the hearing until Wednesday, the court said that the hearing of the case will be held even on Saturdays and Sundays.
“We are not hearing the case for personal spectacle, but out of passion,” Justice Nisar said. Justice Nisar observed that medical colleges are being run on rooftops and garages, adding that the court should be told about the structure of such colleges. He remarked that “although we are producing doctors, we don’t know whether our tool is correct or not.”
The SC also decided that the case regarding provision of safe drinking water in Punjab will also be heard with the medical colleges case.
The CJP said that it had come to his knowledge that a vehicle worth Rs35 million had been bought for a project for clean water.
“If the vehicle has been bought, the court must be informed what kind of a vehicle it is.”
He asked the advocate general Punjab to provide details on the matter. “The vehicle should be brought here if possible,” he added.
The SC also summoned chairman PMDC and medical college owners in Lahore along affidavits.
He said providing health facilities was government’s prime responsibility. What the government has done so far in this regard, he asked adding that there could be no compromise regarding health as it was the matter of future of sons of the soil.
Saqib Nisar asked what measures had the government taken to curb fast rising cancer disease in the country. He also asked what was the procedure of building a medical college and on what basis was their fee structure established.
Referring to his earlier comment, he said he had compared judiciary with Baba Rehmatay because he wanted all to speak the truth in front of it including the government.
The advocate general told on this occasion that once they take action against a medical college it gets stay order from a court. Upon which, the CJP sought details of such stay orders issued by courts.
