PHC seeks replies over lack of proper treatment to injured

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA) on Thursday sought replies from the federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments and other officials to explain as to why financial support and the best available treatment were not provided to the injured students and other victims of the Army Public School and College (APS & C) tragedy.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Muhammad Daud Khan also asked the station commander XI Corps, Peshawar, and the APS principal to explain as to why monument or block were being constructed using the money collected through donations, instead of spending the same for the well-being of the students and treatment of injured victims.
The bench asked all the respondents including the federal government, National Assembly, Senate, government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, provincial assembly, station commander XI Corps, Peshawar, and the APS principal to submit written comments before March 19 which is the next hearing in the case.
The bench sought comments in a writ petition of the Peshawar High Court Association through its President Muhammad Essa Khan and member Akhtar Ilyas.
The petitioners had requested the bench to direct the federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments and other relevant officials to extend all possible financial support to the injured students and other victims of the APS tragedy.
The association requested the court to ensure payment to the families of the victims and injured persons without any delay.
The petitioners also urged the court to direct the APS administration not to waste the money collected through donations on the construction of unnecessary monuments, blocks, etc inside or outside the school. They said the administration be ordered to spend the same for the welfare and well-being of the students, more particularly for the rehabilitation of the injured victims of the tragedy.
The petitioners stated that over 100 students were killed and a large number of others suffered critical injuries of which several were still admitted at hospitals and struggling for lives.
The PHCBA president stated that after the incident both the federal and provincial governments made tall claims of providing free treatment to the injured and adequate compensation to the bereaved families of the slain students. But now, he claimed, both had forgotten their promises though the affected families and civil society were on the roads demanding help for the injured students.
The PHCBA president stated the school’s administration recently made announcement that the funds so raised would be spent on constructing a monument or some blocks. He said it was a misconceived idea, particularly at a time when injured students and bereaved families were seeking financial help for proper treatment of their loved ones.