Baba Rehmatey delivers relief to people, says CJP

LAHORE: Chief Justice Saqib Nisar on Friday explained the reason behind using the term Baba Rahmata and said Baba Rahmata was the person who resolved people's problems, explaining that he borrowed the term from famous writer Ashfaq Ahmad’s work.

“Baba Rahmata is the one who facilitates the people,” the chief justice said. He added that he cared less about the criticism regarding his use of the term, saying he would continue working for public welfare regardless of criticism and adverse opinion.

He vowed that the private medical colleges would not be allowed to rob parents in the name of education and admission as the issue pertained to the future of next generation.

Hearing different suo motu cases at the Supreme Court’s Lahore Registry, the chief justice, who was heading a three-member bench, pointed out that the tuition fees should not be too high so as to rob the students.

The court ordered an audit of private medical colleges by any independent chartered firm in a bid to acquire their fee structure and expenditure, adding that the services charges to the firm would be paid by the colleges.

“The medical education has unfortunately become a business rather than being a life-saving profession,” he remarked. The chief justice remarked that medical colleges were producing mediocre doctors and some of them couldn’t even do basic things like checking a patient’s blood pressure. However, he made it clear that the sanctioned private medical colleges would not be closed down but they had to fulfill all the legal requirements.

The court went on to say that the admission already done by the private medical colleges would not be annulled; however, the extra fee taken from the students would be adjusted/returned accordingly.

Earlier, he had remarked that the Supreme Court did not want to shut down the private medical colleges as they shared the burden of the public sector but “these institutions should not turn into business organisations either”.

He denounced PPP’s outgoing Senator Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan’s remarks wherein he stated that the judiciary was functioning beyond the constitutional limits, and invited him to the court to enunciate whatever he wants to say.

Couple of days ago, another PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar had criticised the judiciary and army and Aitzaz had approved it during his farewell speech in the Senate. Aitzaz said, “I completely agree with Farhatullah Babar that army should abstain from indulging in adventurism and the judiciary should not go beyond its domain.”

The three-member bench was hearing a suo motu case regarding the sale of infant formula milk and Aitzaz was supposed to appear on behalf of the representative association of the manufacturers.

At the outset of hearing, his associate Barrister Gohar informed the bench that Aitzaz would not attend proceedings due to a farewell ceremony for the outgoing senators in Islamabad. He requested the court to adjourn the case for at least three days, saying, “He is not available before Monday.”

On it, the chief justice asked Gohar to start his arguments; however, he insisted that Aitzaz would himself extend arguments. His conduct irked the chief justice who asked him, “Are you trying to frighten us with the name of Aitzaz Ahsan? Aitzaz is our elder brother but you cannot take undue advantage of being associated with a big law firm,” the chief justice told Gohar, asking him inform Aitzaz to appear on Saturday (today).

“We are sure Aitzaz would certainly reiterate his arguments that the court is crossing its constitutional jurisdiction,” the chief justice added.

Hearing the main case, the bench expressed its intention to pass an order for the formula milk manufacturers to mention on their products that “it is neither natural milk nor a substitute to mother’s milk”.

Chief Justice Nisar went on to say that he knew Aitzaz had said in the Senate that the judiciary had been operating beyond its constitutional limits. “He should come to the court and utter the same words on our face,” he said.

The chief justice imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Aitzaz after his associate kept on interfering court’s proceedings unnecessarily and continuously sought adjournment till Monday.

The chief justice also suspended Gohar’s license to practice legal profession, saying, “Leave the legal profession if you do not know how to appear before apex court.”

Later, he withdrew the order after Gohar tendered unconditional pardon and a request made by other senior lawyers present in the court. The bench adjourned hearing for today (Saturday) when Advocate Salman Aslam Butt would advance his arguments on behalf of Nestle.

The chief justice came down hard on the manufactures and producers of powder milk, saying they were minting money and plundering the people by selling what, he termed, was neither milk nor its substitute.

He remarked that he would issue contempt of court notice to NESTLE if its products were available without mentioning the word “It is not milk”. Earlier, a representative of Meiji undertook before the bench to not use anymore the word “milk” on its infant formula products.

On the other hand, the apex court was informed that the chicken meat is safe for human consumption as it does not contain any contamination or toxics which could be hazardous for human health.

A report submitted by court-appointed commission led by Barrister Salman Akram Raja says 84 poultry farms are registered across Punjab and the commission collected samples randomly from 24. These samples were sent to diagnostic laboratory and the reports received so far have cleared the chicken meat of contamination or toxics.

Salman Raja said antibiotics were administered only when some disease breaks out in poultry. He, however, pointed out some concerns over the manufacturing of poultry feed. Salman Raja and Prof Dr Faisal Masood also presented some suggestions to improve the chicken feed.

The chief justice summoned the livestock secretary, directing him to implement the recommendation and submit a report in a month. During the day, Chief Justice Nisar along with Lahore High Court Chief Justice Yawar Ali paid a surprise visit to two government hospitals in the city.

A three-member bench headed by the chief justice was hearing suo motu cases on various public welfare issues when the chief justice decided to pay a surprise visit to hospitals to ascertain the medical facilities being provided to people. The two senior judges first visited the Services Hospital and inspected various wards, including the emergency department.

While interacting with patients, a woman approached the chief justice asking for monetary assistance for treatment. He assured her of help and directed the relevant authorities to provide free-of-charge services.

Later, as the chief justice arrived at the government-run Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC), he expressed displeasure at the absence of wheelchairs at the entrance.

The patients complained to the chief justice of various issues faced by them after which he directed the hospital administration to resolve the same. The chief justice also visited the Red Crescent Medical College in Phoolnagar near Pattoki.

At the chief justice's visit, students began protesting against the university administration. The chief justice learned from students that they have been charged two to three million rupees as fees.

Hearing this, Chief Justice Nisar ordered the varsity administration to return the fees exceeding Rs850,000 and barred it from taking disciplinary action against students without taking the Supreme Court on board.

The chief justice also ordered the FIA and the Kasur DPO to probe the issue of exorbitant fees after which one university official was detained.

During the visit, the chief justice also expressed displeasure over inadequate facilities inside the medical college's operation theatre.

The chief justice had in December last year paid a similar visit to Lahore's Mayo Hospital to inspect the facilities there. The move had drawn criticism from various quarters, including Maryam Nawaz.