ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court on Sunday directed the authorities to complete the construction work on a stalled women and children hospital project in Rawalpindi within 18 months and make the hospital fully functional.
A two-member Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and Justice Munib Akhtar issued the directives while taking up the case related to the non-completion of work on the hospital and a college in Rawalpindi.
A petition in this regards was filed by former parliamentarian Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, who is also in the run for elections from two National Assembly constituencies of the same locality where the hospital is being built.
Additional Attorney General Amir Rahman informed the court that 60 percent work has already been completed on the project while rest of the work would be completed between 18 months to two years. “Rs5.03 billion are required to operationalize the hospital,” he clarified adding: “A team of doctors can decide about the machinery”.
The chief justice rejected a request to grant a time period of two years to complete the hospital and remarked that the construction has already been delayed by 10 years and it cannot be delayed further.
He gave 18 months to complete the project and observed that he wanted a daily progress report on the matter. “The Supreme Court will monitor the construction now and there will be no delay in the release of funds,” the chief justice asserted while assuring the authorities that the top court was ready to extend all-out legal assistance in this regard.
Justice Nisar offered to allocate two rooms to the people of relevant departments at the Judicial Academy where they can work together on a daily basis. “You will have to work according to the deadline given by the court,” he said.
Praising the chief justice’s involvement in the matter, Sheikh Rasheed, a strong proponent of the project for years, proposed that the facility be named after the chief justice. The suggestion was not entertained by the court, however.
As the hearing was underway, Ahmed also requested the chief justice to visit the facility but the top judge declined by saying: “There is no need to visit the hospital as we will pass the order today.”
However, later, the chief justice also visited the site of the under-construction hospital and admonished the PWD chief engineer.
He said that the entire structure has been destroyed and the work should be started immediately on the project.
During his visit to the hospital, Ahmed was also with the chief justice for which strict security arrangements had been put in place. The chief justice also visited the Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology.
Court ALLOWS DRESHAK TO CONTEST ELECTION
Meanwhile, in another case, the apex court allowed Sardar Nasrullah Khan Dreshak to contest elections on the NA-194 seat, Rajanpur.
His nomination papers had accepted by the returning officer but the same had been rejected by the election tribunal and then the Lahore High Court, considering misrepresentation in the affidavit filed along with the nomination forms.
Dreshak’s counsel pleaded before the court that his client had nothing to do with a sugar mill named Indus Sugar Mill and, in fact, his son was the owner of the said enterprise while he owns 6.34 percent shares in it.
“His son is 41 years old and he is an independent person according to the law,” the counsel argued, requesting the court to set aside the decision of the election tribunal and the high court. After hearing the arguments, the apex court allowed Dreshak to contest the elections.