LAHORE - Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar last week heard a number of cases here -- clean water case, tea whitener and adulterated milk case, decline in quality of legal education case and medical education case.
The chief justice also took up cases of illegal buildings, environmental pollution and clinical waste of private hospitals in Lahore. He decided some appeals and sought reports on many others. First time in last five years any top judge of the country was seen so active at Supreme Court’s Lahore Registry to solve problems of common people relating to their basic needs. He heard a divorced woman’s appeal for alimony. The bench admitted her appeal for regular hearing but observed that how could she claim alimony without performing her conjugal duties? A husband and his wife cannot be forced to live together before departure of the bride under the law, Justice Nisar observed.
The woman was divorced by her husband two years after their marriage, but she had never been to her husband’s house during these two years of marriage. Alimony is maintenance allowance paid by the husband or wife to his or her spouse after separation or divorce.
Ambreen Akram, a resident of Faisalabad, submitted to the court that her husband divorced her two years after their marriage and did not give her maintenance allowance.
However, she informed the court that she never lived with her husband after their marriage. She pleaded to the court to order her former husband to pay her maintenance allowance for two years. On this, Justice Nisar observed: “Women are entitled to alimony if they perform their conjugal duties.” He added: “Husband and wife cannot be forced to live together by any court of law before departure of the wife to her husband’s house. Forcing a couple to live together in our society is creating troubles.”
The court adjourned the hearing for indefinite period. In a suo motu case, Chief Justice Nisar ordered all unregistered private medical colleges to stop process of admission of medical students until further orders. He observed that strict action would be taken against violators of the court orders.
He summoned chief executive officers of 14 private medical and dental colleges in Lahore to submit affidavits about meeting the criteria laid down by the PMDC and giving details of their bank accounts and admission fee collected from students. Justice Nisar observed that standard health facilities were right of citizens but regrettably no new hospital like the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Oncology (INMOL) had been established during the last couple of years to provide health facilities to citizens.
“It is government’s responsibility to provide health facilities to citizens but what has it done so far?” the CJ asked the advocate general of Punjab. “It is an issue for the next generations as cancer is spreading fast,” he remarked. He also asked Punjab’s top law officer to tell the court if any new cancer hospital had been established in the province.
The CJ regretted falling standards of medical profession and health facilities being provided to citizens and vowed to hold day-to-day hearing to decide the matter within two or three months.
The bench directed the colleges to submit their prospectus and details about merit criteria, number of seats available, quota and fee collected from students and the fee decided by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council.
The bench warned the unrecognised private medical colleges against offering admissions, observing, “CEOs and administration bodies would be held responsible if they make further admissions and violate the court’s orders.” “Inquiry shall be held if any back date admission is mentioned,” the CJ remarked.
The bench also directed PMDC President Prof Dr Shabbir Ahmad Lehri to appear before the court. The bench issued notice to the Pakistan Association of Private Medical & Dental Institutions (PAMI). It also directed LHC Registrar Syed Khursheed Anwar Rizvi to submit a report on cases pending before the court involving PMDC and medical colleges. PMDC Registrar Waseem Hassan Hashmi told the court that a fee structure had been developed for private medical colleges and Rs642,000 had been decided as annual fee for students. Unfortunately, he said, private colleges charged more in the name of charity from students. On this, the CJ said that “son of a poor person cannot become a doctor if there is a huge fee”. A woman lawyer raised her hand in the courtroom to tell the judges that she knew two students who were denied admission to MBBS and asked by the medical colleges to pay Rs2 to Rs3 million.
The proceedings, however, took a new turn when the other day the same woman appeared before the bench, showing her cell phone to the judges that Punjab Governor’s son Asif Rajwana and Faisalabad Medical University’s Vice Chancellor Dr Fareed Zafar called her and texted her in connection with admission offer to the students and asked her to stay away from approaching the court.
On this, the chief justice went hard on Governor’s son Asif Rajwana and summoned him to explain why he interfered in the process of admission despite the stay orders. Faisalabad Medical University VC Dr Fareed Zafar was already present in the court and he pleaded the court that he did not call her to offer her students admission. Following the court orders, Rajwana and Dr Zafar appeared before the court and tendered unconditional written apologies. The court snubbed both of them and accepted their apologies.
Besides, there was a case of Rs246 million tax fraud. The top judge expressed serious concerns over judicial wisdom of a trial court judge who awarded 33 months jail and Rs3,000 fine to convicts. Saadat Ali Khan, Muhammad Ali Khan and Ahmad Ali Khan were convicted by a customs judge after they were found guilty of sales tax fraud of Rs246 million. However, their appeals to the LHC were rejected and now they had approached the Supreme Court.
Justice Nisar went hard on the trial court judge who decided the matter, awarding a short sentence and a small amount of fine. He observed, “Under Section 37-A of the Sales Act, 1990, the judge had the powers to award imprisonment and impose fine equal to the amount which was concealed.” Justice Nisar wondered how the judge dealt with the matter with leniency and imposed just Rs3,000 fine on the accused who should have been fined in millions of rupees.
The CJ remarked the judges had no powers to decide the matters according to their will. The SC has already decided that fine is a punishment and it cannot be waived. He said the judge should have assigned the reasons of his discretionary powers in the judgement as to why he awarded such a low sentence.
“I feel the judge had made ‘something big’ by imposing so small amount of fine on the accused,” the CJ remarked.
A lawyer who was representing the FBR told the bench that Customs Judge Naseem Akhtar decided the matter and now he has retired. The CJ observed, “Had the judge been on duty, I would have served a notice on him. The accused should have been fined in millions of rupees.” “With a small amount of fine, the accused had been set free,” he remarked. He said the customs judge had misused his powers.