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LAHORE, July 11: A Lahore High Court judge expressed his concern on Thursday over the breakdown of law and order at Phoolnagar in Kasur district and asked the authorities to take urgent remedial measures.
“The law of the jungle seems to be prevailing in the area,” Justice Khwaja Muhammad Sharif remarked as two doctors — senior medical officer Khwaja Mahboob Ahmad and medical officer Kanwar Afzal Bashir of the Phoolnagar rural health centre — related their woeful tales in the course of hearing of a petition.
Both said they were routinely pressed by rival groups of an influential Rana family to issue false medico-legal certificates. They were worried about their safety and that of their children and wanted their transfer as their complaints had fallen on deaf ears.
“I was abused and slapped by a councillor (Rana Zulfiqar Ali). When I got an FIR registered, the SHO tried to exonerate him and the judicial magistrate (Ms Irum Ayaz) admitted him to bail,” a weeping Dr Mahboob told the judge while recoding his statement in open court.
Justice Sharif issued notice to the councillor to show cause why his bail should not be cancelled. The Kasur SSP was asked to produce him on Friday. An official of the judicial magistrate’s court was asked to produce the record of the case. The SSP was also asked to look into the SHO’s conduct.
The administrative chaos came to light during proceedings on a petition against Dr Kanwar Afzal Bashir seeking expunction of his remarks in a medico-legal report that the injuries on the petitioner’s body could be self-inflicted. The judge referred the matter to a board of doctors headed by the medical superintendent of the Services Hospital, Lahore. The board confirmed the finding and the petition was dismissed.
In his testimony before the court, Dr Mahboob said certain influential people of the area whom the doctors failed to oblige moved complaints against them and they were required to submit explanations and clarifications. As for their own grievances, they met the executive district officer (Health) but no action was taken against the culprits. No order was issued for protection of doctors and staff posted at the health centre.
RAB BARRED: The Lahore High Court restrained the Regional Accountability Bureau and the Punjab Cooperatives Liquidation Board from arresting a petitioner or adopting any other coercive measure to recover from him interest on a loan obtained in 1985.
The Rs50,000 loan was taken by Muhammad Saleem from the Pasban Cooperative Finance Corporation. It remained unpaid till the corporation was taken over by the PCLB under the dissolution of undesirable cooperatives law. There was no subsequent repayment and the PCLB and the RAB issued a notice to the debtor to pay up the loan along with Rs300,000 as mark-up or interest. He was warned of arrest and other coercive measures if he failed to repay Rs350,000 as asked.
Appearing for the petitioner, Advocate Hanif Tahir submitted before Justice Karamat Nazir Bhandari that he could not be treated differently from the debtors of Habib Bank and the Small Business Finance Corporation.
The former waived 50 per cent mark-up accruing on outstanding loans if the principal amount was paid up to June 30 last. The SBFC remitted the entire amount in excess ofthe principal due on pre-1991 loans.
The judge directed the petitioner to pay the principal within a month and barred the PCLB and the RAB from using coercive measures for the recovery of mark-up. The hearing was adjourned till Sept 26.
