LHC moved for contempt proceeding against protesting docs

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has been requested to initiate contempt of court proceedings against young doctors for observing strike in violation of an order previously passed by the court.

Through a civil miscellaneous application filed in a pending case, Judicial Activism Panel Chairman Advocate Azhar Siddique pleaded that the strike, agitation and protest by the doctors in government-run hospitals throughout Punjab had entered double figure days causing serious problems and discontinuation of medical facilities to all kinds of patients.

The lawyer pointed out that the court in the pending main case, through an interim order, directed the doctors to avoid any call for strike and also restrained them from staging any protest in any form, whatsoever, at any stage, in any hospital. He said the court held the acts by the doctors would tantamount to contempt.

He stated that the doctors under the banner of Grand Health Alliance (GHA) had been holding protest demonstrations against Punjab Medical Teaching Institutes (Reforms) Act, 2019.

He submitted that the doctors announced continuation of the protest as their dialogue with the government remained fruitless.

The applicant requested the court to initiate contempt proceedings against the doctors for deliberately violating the order.