LAHORE: Hearing a suo motu case regarding the inflated fee structure of private medical and dental colleges, Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar on Tuesday ordered all the unregistered colleges in the country to immediately stop the process of admissions and also summoned the president of the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PMDC), the regulator of the medical profession.

The CJP was heading a two-judge bench at the Lahore registry. The other member was Justice Ijazul Ahsan.

Advocate General for Punjab (AGP) Shakilur Rehman Khan, PMDC Registrar Waseem Hassan Hashmi, Lahore High Court Registrar Khurshid Anwar Rizvi and Pakistan Bar Council Vice Chairman Ahsan Bhoon were present on the court’s call.

During the hearing, the CJP expressed concern over deteriorating standard of medical profession and health facilities, asking a number of questions from the AGP about the government’s efforts to improve the health sector.

He asked the AGP to name any public hospital established in the province for the growing patients of cancer.

CJP Nisar concerned over deteriorating standard of medical profession and health facilities

CJP Nisar regretted that he was unable to remember that any big health facility had been established in Punjab during the past five years.

Expressing concern over an exorbitant fee structure of medical colleges, the CJP said to the reader of his court, “Just forget it, your son cannot become a doctor.”

The CJP vowed to decide the case within two or three months by holding day-to-day hearings.

He summoned CEOs of all 14 private medical & dental colleges in Lahore with the direction to submit their affidavits about meeting the criteria laid down by the PMDC.

The CJP also ordered the colleges to furnish details of their bank accounts and the amount of fee they charged for the present session from students.

The colleges were also directed to submit their prospectus, number of seats available and how many of them had been filled on merit and quota basis and the charges collected from students besides fee fixed by the PMDC.

Restraining all unrecognised private medical colleges from carrying out admission, the chief justice observed, “If any admission is made by these colleges, their chief executives or administrative body shall personally be held responsible for violating the order of this court.”

The CJP said an inquiry would be conducted if any attempt was made to mention the admission even in back dates.

The bench also issued notice to the Pakistan Association of Private Medical & Dental Institutions and sought personal appearance of PMDC President Prof Dr Shabbir Ahmad Lehri. It directed the LHC registrar to submit details of all cases pending before the court relating to the PMDC and medical colleges.

The hearing was adjourned for today (Wednesday).

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2017