Daily Times

A bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday dismissed a plea seeking a court order for enforcement of presidential system in the country.

A single bench of the LHC consisting of Justice Ameenuddin Khan, while hearing the petition, declared it as non-maintainable.

The petitioner had made President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan party to the case.

The petitioner pleaded that the enforcement of presidential form of government was in the best interest of the country.

He claimed that Pakistan had always made progress in the presidential system, and pleaded the court to an order conducting a referendum for replacement of the existing parliamentary system in the country with the presidential system. The petitioner also sought a court order for changing the existing mechanism of appointment of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman and the chief election commissioner (CEC) by electing the holders of both offices with referendums. The bench dismissed the petition by declaring it non-maintainable.

Punjab human organ transplant rules challenged in LHC

Meanwhile The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday issued notices to the Punjab government and the Health Department over the rules regarding human organ transplantation. A petitioner, Naeem Siddique, challenged the Health Department’s rules in the high court. The petitioner pleaded to the court that the Health Department’s rules were not in conformity with the Human Organs Transplantation Act, 2010.

The law permits donation of kidney from a non-relative person, after approval of a committee concerned, but under the Health Department’s rules, a non-relative could not donate a kidney to a patient, the petitioner said.

The petitioner pleaded that his eight-year old daughter required kidney transplantation, while doctors were saying that the Health Department rules did not allow donation of kidney from a non-relative person to the patient for transplantation.

“Due to the difference between the government rules and the law, kidney transplantation of my daughter could not be conducted,” the petitioner added.

The petitioner requested the court to order the government to remove the difference between its rules and the law concerned and allow his daughter to receive donation of kidney from a non-relative person. The court issued notices to the government and the Health Ministry for May 2.