KARACHI: The Sindh High Court Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M. Shaikh has taken notice of lack of health facilities in Jacobabad, Dadu and Obaro and directed the authorities and sessions judges concerned to file their reports in this regard.

Official sources said that the chief justice initiated the proceedings on a report in press.

According to media reports, government hospitals in the areas do not have basis facilities while facing shortage of doctors, paramedical staff and ambulances. Besides, the reports said that a kidney centre in Jacobabad hospital was not functioning whereas a hospital in Makhdoom Bilawal Goth, some 10 kilometre from Dadu, was allegedly occupied upon by police.

Taking notice of these reports, the SHC CJ asked the sessions judges concerned and the administration to submit their specific replies in this regard.

Lawyer’s case

A two-judge bench of the SHC directed senior lawyer Khawaja Shams-ul-lslam, who was booked for allegedly misbehaving with police, to satisfy the court on the maintainability of his plea against leaking of his ‘behind the bars’ photo.

Advocate Shams-ul-lslam moved the SHC through a constitutional petition and submitted a picture, which was captured when he was behind the bars, saying that the picture went viral on the social media defaming the image of whole lawyer community.

The petitioner lawyer cited the home secretary, the inspector general of Sindh and the DIG South as respondents.

The court observed that lawyers were very respectable, but they should think about their attitude.

The bench put off the hearing to a date to be later pronounced by the court’s office, directing the petitioner to argue legal points of his plea on the next hearing.

In a video went viral, Advocate Islam, the senior practising lawyer at the Sindh High Court, can be seen arguing with the police who stopped him while he was driving a sports car for snap checking near Seaview a few days ago.

Later, the case was registered and the advocate was arrested by the police which produced him before the judicial magistrate.

Advocate lslam claimed the police misbehaved with him when he was on his way to home on Abdul Sattar Edhi Avenue. Currently, he was out on bail approved by the magistrate.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2017