Daily Times

LAHORE: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar Friday said that he does not care about people mocking his use of the term Baba Rahmatay.

While presiding over the hearing of a suo motu case related to fee hike in medical colleges at Supreme Court’s Lahore registry, the CJP said people may call him an ‘over-concerned oldie’ but he does not pay heed to such criticism. He remarked that Baba Rahmatay is a person who resolves problems of the common people, explaining that he borrowed the term from the work of revered writer Ashfaq Ahmad.

The chief justice said that he does not care about comments in the media regarding his use of the term, adding that he will continue to work for the public welfare regardless of the public opinion.

The chief justice had referred to the judiciary as Baba Rahmatay during an address to lawyers in Lahore in January this year.

Hearing the suo moto case against hefty fees being charged by private medical colleges, the CJP ordered the audit of these institutions by an independent chartered firm. He remarked that the medical education has become a business in Pakistan which is deplorable as it is a life-saving profession. The CJP further said that the medical colleges are producing a mediocre lot and the doctors nowadays have no idea how to check something as petty as blood pressure. “Who is responsible for the death of five children yesterday?” asked the CJP. “I doubt inquiry into the matter which states that the children died just because of sunlight,” he added.

The CJP said that he had addressed a large number of public issues and that the Supreme Court will give independent time to each case. He said the court was not going to order closure of any private medical college, adding that provision of education had turned into a business in Pakistan but medical education should be spared. “Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) needs to be updated,” the CJP noted.

Later, the hearing was adjourned till March 10.

Published in Daily Times, March 10^th 2018.