PESHAWAR: A local court has ordered registration of a criminal case against provincial health minister Hisham Inamullah, head of National Health Task Force Dr Nausherwan Burki and eight others over a complaint of a surgeon, Dr Ziauddin Afridi, accusing them of severely injuring him on the premises of a hospital.

Additional district and sessions judge Tanveer Iqbal, in his capacity as Justice of Peace, accepted the petition filed by Dr Ziauddin Afridi under section 22-A of Code of Criminal Procedure, which empowered the court to order registration of an FIR when the concerned police were reluctant to register the same after commission of an offence.

The court observed that it appeared from the record that the petitioner had levelled allegations of commission of cognizable offence and he had reported the matter to the local police, but no criminal case had been registered as yet.

The court directed the SHO of University Town police station to register a criminal case against the respondents, including Hisham Inamullah, Dr Nausherwan Burki, Dr Jawad Ahmad, hospital director of Khyber Teaching Hospital Dr Nek Dad and five or six guards, who were accompanying the minister to the hospital when the incident took place.

They have been accused of abusing, assaulting a doctor

The incident took place on May 14, 2019, when initially the petitioner, Dr Ziauddin Afridi, hurled eggs at Dr Burki who was there to attend a meeting, following which the minister visited the hospital along with his guards and allegedly thrashed the petitioner.

After that doctors had also boycotted their duties as protest for a few days.

The petitioner’s counsel contended that the minister and other respondents, including five to six private and government security guards armed with assault rifles, had rushed to the corridor outside the office of the petitioner at Surgical ‘E’ Unit at Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar, and surrounded him.

He stated that the respondent Hisham Inamullah started abusing the petitioner and also assaulted him as a result of which the petitioner received multiple injuries on head and chest.

He stated that private guards had aimed weapons at the petitioner and hit him with metallic butts of weapons, which also resulted in several injuries to the petitioner’s head, fractured his ribs and multiple wounds on hands.

It was alleged that the blood of petitioner on floor was immediately washed on the direction of the minister and administration to erase the evidence.

He stated that the petitioner was kept under intensive care for nine days.

He said that young doctors of KTH had approached the police for registration of an FIR, but the police instead briefly detained them.

The petitioner alleged that the mastermind of the incident was Dr Nausherwan Burki as the petitioner had raised voice against illegal acts committed in MTIs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Despite the court’s notice comments were not filed by SP (complaints).

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2019