Couldn’t fix hospitals of KP: CJP

LAHORE: Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar on Saturday said he could not fix the hospitals of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, however, the hospitals of Punjab and Sindh are much better.

The chief justice defended the Supreme Court’s judicial activism and said it is the judiciary’s constitutional responsibility to identify and correct the flaws of state institutions.

Addressing the convocation of the Services Institute of Medical Sciences here, Justice Saqib Nisar said he had served with integrity and honesty. “Every day from 9:00am to midnight, I served in courts tirelessly,” he said, adding that moral righteousness was his motto. He explained that under the Constitution, the judiciary was the “guardian of fundamental rights of people of Pakistan and, therefore, duty-bound to ensure that the rights of people are protected”.

“I have strived to serve the interests of the nation and its people determinedly. My test has begun and results will be seen after my retirement,” he said.

Justice Saqib Nisar said ensuring the provision of proper health services was neither his nor court’s job, however, tackling flaws of institutions is the constitutional responsibility of the judiciary.

“There were flaws in hospital management systems and it was our responsibility to deal with them,” he said, and added that the judiciary did not interfere in the internal matters of any institution.

The top judge further said that private hospitals have become business centres and they are no longer academic institutions. He said Rs726 million was recovered from the millions earned by private medical colleges as fee and returned to students.

Referring to his suo motu notices regarding high fee charged by private medical colleges and lack of facilities at several hospitals, the chief justice said he was trying to “end the exploitation of people”. He said it was his “judicial duty” to lay down a criterion for medical colleges to ensure that they don’t exploit students and parents.

“Did I exceed my jurisdiction by laying down criteria (which ensures) that tertiary hospitals have enough number of doctors, staff and drugs, to discharge the obligation of the guardianship (imposed upon the judiciary)?” he asked.

The chief justice narrated his observations during his visits to hospitals across all four provinces and regretted that medical facilities in the country were not satisfactory. Furthermore, he talked about female doctors who abandon practice after getting their degrees. “If you sit at home and become housewives (after receiving medical education), you violate the oath that you swore, which is to help the miserable,” the chief justice said.

He said the Constitution had ended the quota system where women were allotted lesser seats than men, so that admissions are given on the basis of merit. It is detrimental to the society, he said, when female doctors abandon their profession. The chief justice urged female students to convince their families to facilitate them so they can serve as doctors and repay the resources provided to them by the state.

Justice Saqib Nisar, while recalling incidents from his childhood, said: “When I was eight years old, I used to take my mother to the doctor in a horse carriage and we used to spend hours at the clinic. My mother taught my brother and me to serve humanity and prayed to God to protect us from all difficulties.”

The chief justice said those who suffer greatly understand the pain of others. “I began my mission with my mother’s teachings in mind,” he said, and added: “My love for the country is not one-sided but two-sided. I have spent my whole life working for the provision of justice. The purpose of my life is to stay loyal to my profession.”

The chief justice said that moral righteousness was his motto. “The real service is to fulfil your professional responsibilities with sincerity. My test has started and its results will come after I retire,” he said.

SIMS Principal Prof Mahmood Ayaz, the vice chancellors of University of Health Sciences, King Edward Medical University and Fatima Jinnah Medical University also participated in the convocation where 191 students of SIMS got their degrees and position-holders were awarded gold medals.