PESHAWAR, Dec 5: The NWFP government is yet to implement the law concerning the examination of medico-legal cases by doctors in accordance with the Qisas and Diyat Ordinance, officials said.

The government promulgated the QDO on Oct 30, 1990, repealing the British laws about the medico-legal examinations of the injured. The ordinance was converted into an act of parliament in April 1997.

Medico-legal examinations are being conducted according to the new law in all provinces, except the NWFP. Even the Department of Forensic Medicines of Khyber Medical College, the only recognized institution for postgraduate training in the country, is yet to adopt the procedures according to the new law.

Through the Act, 40 sections of the PPC dealing with offences against human body were amended. These amendments changed the way of writing the description of different kinds of injuries in view of the Islamic injunctions.

Besides, the Act has taken care of the details of losses to the injured and aggrieved persons. For instance, a doctor under the new law is required to file MLCs’ reports with calculation of monetary losses to be suffered by the wounded because of the injury.

Experts say the rest is the responsibility of courts to make the aggressors compensate the losses inflicted on the aggrieved persons.

“Implementation of the law will speed up justice and people will get rid of years of wranglings in courts,” said a doctor.

The new law is better. It is in detail and will satisfy the Muslims, because their cases will be decided in line with the Islamic laws, said another doctor. The QDO is what the Quran says about the dispensation of justice that an eye for eye and an ear for an ear.

“Despite the Supreme Court’s instructions to adopt the new law, the NWFP government hasn’t taken any step to ensure trials on the basis of the Qisas and Diyat Law,” said a medico-legal expert.

Interestingly, students at the Forensic Department of KMC are being taught the new law, but in practice doctors still furnish the report of the MLCs in accordance with the previous sections of PPC.

Even courts decide the cases of wounded persons in line with the new law despite the fact that reporting of these cases are done by doctors according to the repealed law.

An official at the KMC said the health department has failed to implement the QDO despite the fact that the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal government had already passed a bill aimed at implementing the Islamic laws in the province.