Daily Times

KARACHI: Not satisfied with a medical report on murder suspect Shahrukh Jatoi’s condition, Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar on Saturday paid a surprise visit to the Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre (JPMC).

He also directed officials concerned to have former provincial minister Sharjeel Inam Memon returned to the jail from a medical facility where he was being kept.

Memon and 11 others had been indicted by an accountability court in Karachi on Thursday in a corruption case pertaining to award of advertisements at exorbitant rates.

At JPMC, the CJP asked health secretary Dr Fazlullah Pechuho to explain as to when the situation at government hospitals would get better.

Pechuho replied the government was providing funds to the hospitals to improve healthcare facilities.

The CJP Nisar also asked the health secretary to swear on affidavit that the JPMC and other hospitals were well-equipped and had all healthcare facilities.

During his visit, the CJP was also briefed by Dr Seemin Jamali, the JPMC executive director. When Jamali told the CJP that litigation over the status of the hospital followed the 18th Amendment was a reason for many of the administrative woes at the facility, he assured the executive director that he would expedite the case as soon as he could.

Last week, Justice Nisar had taken notice of Jatoi’s shifting to the JPMC from Karachi’s Central Jail following deterioration in his medical condition just a week after his bail was set aside by the SC.

The CJP also expressed displeasure on finding out that Jatoi was being kept in Category C jail. “Why is a death sentence suspect being kept in Category C jail,” Justice Nisar asked, summoning a report from the jail administration on how many prisoners had been transferred to hospitals.

Separately, the CJP remarked that he would not shy away from fighting for protection and provision of fundamental rights of the people. He expressed these views while hearing a case pertaining to a school set up on a footpath in Clifton area.

The chief justice observed that children of those who were required to do something for welfare of the country were studying abroad. He said it was the duty of the government to ensure provision of fundamental rights. “The government is bound to provide healthcare, and educational facilities,” he added.

CJP Nisar vowed to protect the fundamental rights of people. “My dream is to ensure implementation of fundamental rights in letter and spirit,” he said.

He said he got the streets cleared in Punjab, which were closed in the name of security. “Blocking streets is violation of the fundamental right of citizens,” he explained.

“I am fighter. I will surely fight,” the CJP declared and clarified that he was not fond of taking suo motu notices.

He said he kept quiet for a year, but when he saw there was no one to care about the suffering of people, only then he began to take suo motu notices.

The chief justice urged senior lawyers to file petitions raising issues related to violation of fundamental rights.

Published in Daily Times, February 18^th 2018.