PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday attached the salaries of chief secretary and secretaries of the health, information and home and tribal affairs departments for not responding to the notices issued five times in a case challenging the VVIPs’ visit to hospitals after bomb blasts and natural calamities.

A bench consisting of Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Shakeel Ahmad ordered the accountant general office to stop the payment of salaries to the respondents until they respond to the court notices in the case, and adjourned proceedings.

The schedule of the next hearing will be announced afterward.

The court was hearing a petition of senior lawyer Mohammad Khurshid Khan seeking orders for the government functionaries, including prime minister, chief minister, ministers and heads of political parties and journalists, to ban their visits to hospitals after bomb blasts and natural disasters to ensure provision of quick and early treatment to the injured fighting for their lives.

During the hearing, the petitioner, a former deputy attorney general, said the court had served notices to the respondents five times for comments on his petition but they didn’t respond.

He said VVIPs and other government functionaries reached hospitals after bomb blasts and returned after condemning terrorism and using the visit as a photo opportunity.

The petitioner said the influx of VVIPs and journalists messed up things at the accident and emergency wards of hospitals, while security personnel rounded up hospitals for the VVIPs’ security and thus, hampering speedy treatment of the injured.

He said the huge influx of the people, including relatives of blast victims, threw affairs of emergency wards in complete disorder and thus, creating problems for doctors and paramedics in providing emergency treatment to the injured.

The petitioner prayed the high court to impose a complete ban on the visit of VVIPs and government functionaries to the hospitals after bomb blasts or other terrorist activity or natural disasters.

He also requested the court to ask media organisations not to cover such visits of the VVIPs as most of them went there to avail themselves of a photo opportunity instead of providing relief to the injured.

During the previous hearings, the court had also issued notices to the president and general secretary of the Peshawar Press Club to assist it on the idea of banning media coverage of the visit of VVIPs to hospitals after blasts.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2017