PHC attaches salaries of CS, secretaries over non-compliance

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday attached salaries of the chief secretary and secretaries of Health, Information, and Home and Tribal Affairs departments for non-compliance with the court direction after they failed to submit comments in a case despite five notices.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Shakeel Ahmad ordered the accountant general office to stop salaries to the respondent officials till submission of their replies in the case.

The bench was hearing a writ petition filed by senior lawyer Muhammad Khurshid Khan seeking an order of the high court to the government functionaries including prime minister, chief minister, ministers and political parties’ heads and media houses to ban their visits to hospitals after the bomb blast or any other natural disaster as these visits and media coverage created hurdles to provision of quick and early treatment, where bomb blasts victims are fighting for their lives.

During the hearing, Khurshid Khan, who is also former deputy attorney general, submitted before the bench
that the court served notices to the respondents five times,
but they did not comply with the court order and failed to submit comments in the petition.

It was submitted in the writ petition that the VVIPs and other government functionaries reached the hospital
after the bomb blasts and repeated the same words
every time.  They go back after the condemnation statements and photo sessions in the hospitals.

The petitioner said that rush was created in the Accident and Emergency Departments of the hospitals due to visits of VVIPs and their teams. Interestingly, he said, the media persons and cameramen were even more quick to reach the hospitals after the blast for coverage.

He pointed out that security personnel restricted the entry to the hospital for the VVIPs security, impeding the quick treatment to the victims.

The petitioner said hurdles are created for doctors and hospital staff to provide emergency treatment to the blast victims when there is rush at the facility.

The petitioner requested the high court to ban the visits of VVIPs and government functionaries to the hospitals after the bomb blasts or other terrorist activities.

He requested the court to issue direction to the media organisations not to report on visits by the VVIPs. 

In previous hearing, the court had also issued notice to the president and general secretary Peshawar Press Club to submit reply and assist the court about request of ban on the media coverage of the VVIPs and photos in the media.