The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday issued a notice to the management of a private college for expelling a student over smoking on its premises. A high court bench directed the respondent to submit its reply by Jan 30 and summoned the student to appear in the court on next hearing. The expelled student’s parents complained to the bench that a private college expelled their son just because he was smoking on its premises. “How can a student smoke inside the classroom,” asked a member of the bench. “Shouldn’t your son be taken to task for smoking in the classroom.” “Everyone smokes but no one gets expelled on this ground,” argued the counsel for the petitioners. It is pertinent to mention here that the Supreme Court (SC) had lately summoned reports from the federal and the provincial governments on measures against the usage of narcotics in educational institutes. A three-member bench of the SC headed by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar ordered the provinces to submit monthly reports on the use of drugs in academies. The DIG Operation Lahore told the court that police had launched a crackdown against drug peddlers. During the proceeding, CJP Saqib Nisar asked who was responsible for curbing drug peddling? “Drugs are easily available in educational institutes.” He directed the police officer to take action against the black sheep in his department. Published in Daily Times, January 18th 2019.