Chief justice takes notice of QAU land grabbing

Seeks report on out-of-order ventilators at Services Hospital Lahore

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar on Thursday directed the CDA chairman and interior secretary to present a report in three days after he took notice of land grabbing and illegal occupation of Quaid-e-Azam University’s land.

The move came after an application filed by the university authorities said the QAU paid for 1,709 acres of land in 1972 but the CDA didn’t give the possession. The university was continuously facing land grabbing and encroachment problems besides settlements which were already there since its original land allocation in 1967 and 1972. 

The application says the university has so far lost control of over 600 acres of its estate and there would be no campus worth naming if the practice remained unchecked. The application also highlighted that the alleged land grabbers and the illegal occupants were politically influential that had made the situation worst for the university.

Separately, the chief justice took notice of out-of-order ventilators at Services Hospital Lahore and sought a report from the Punjab chief secretary within 10 days.

Reportedly, seven out of 17 ventilators are not working. The action was taken on reports that hundreds of patients requiring intensive care were suffering due to shortage of ventilators and were using the urgent alternate of ambo bag. It was also reported that only three ventilators of ICU children ward were functional.

Taking notice of the issue, the chief justice directed the chief secretary to probe into the matter and submit a report within 10 days to verify the position.  The chief justice also took notice of an incident at Ganga Ram Hospital Lahore where three fingers of a newborn were amputated and ordered the Children Hospital medical director to submit a report within three days   The action was taken on reports that a hand of the newborn was burnt due to negligence of doctors which resulted in subsequent imputation of his thumb and two fingers.