LAHORE, Nov 2: Senior police officers made ‘another mistake’ by referring the murder case registered against three senior doctors of Shaikh Zayed Hospital (SZH) to the Punjab Health Care Commission in violation of the laid down rules, a source told Dawn.

Lahore Deputy Inspector General (Investigation) Ali Amir Malik referred the murder case to the commission on Tuesday.

In a letter dated Nov 1, the DIG asked the Punjab Health Care Commission chairman to engage the board of commissioners in the murder case registered against Prof Dr Haroon Dar and Dr Muhammad Shafi etc. under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code for consultation, advice and necessary action.

The DIG sent the case to the commission on the recommendation of the Iqbal Town Division SP (investigation), the letter said.

“The matter is required to be referred to commission’s board of commissioners for soliciting expert advice. The request of the Iqbal Town Division SP (investigation) appears to be just, fair, proper and plausible hence required consideration,” the DIG wrote to the commission chairman.

Police authorities’ move to seek commission’s intervention to protect the police officers who registered the murder case in violation of commission rules may further incite differences between lawyers and doctors.

Both doctors and lawyers are staging protest demonstrations on roads after a lawyer died at the SZH allegedly because of doctors’ negligence and lawyers got a murder case registered against three doctors early this week.

Quoting the laid down rules and regulations of the commission, medical and health experts said police had no authority to register criminal case against doctors or refer it to the commission for investigation of the medical error, negligence, malpractice, maladministration or failure of health care services.

Describing the police act to refer the murder case to the commission as ‘another blunder’, Pakistan Medical Association’s senior leaders rejected the move at a meeting at the PMA house on Wednesday, saying it would complicate the issue. The meeting decided to expand protests from SZH to other public health institutions of the city to put pressure on the police for withdrawal of the FIR.

A senior police officer told Dawn that police authorities decided to seek commission’s intervention instead of withdrawing the murder case and committing a ‘blunder’.

PMA senior leader Dr Shahid Malik said his association sent a clear message to Lahore Commissioner Jawad Rafique Malik on Wednesday evening that doctors wanted withdrawal of the FIR and no other solution to the problem.

In a related development, doctors observed a complete strike on Wednesday at SZH against registration of a murder case against their colleagues. However, patients were treated at the emergency department as per routine.

Malik reached SZH and held talked with the protesting doctors to resolve the matter. He asked doctors to postpone the strike and assured them that the FIR would be withdrawn till Wednesday evening. However, the meeting remained inconclusive.

Doctors also took out a rally from SZH admin block to Punjab University.