KARACHI, Aug 21: A surgeon of Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), Dr Shaista Khan, defendant in a suit for recovery of damages of Rs5 million, led her evidence and was cross-examined by the counsel for the plaintiff on Wednesday before Justice Khilji Arif Hussain of the Sindh High Court.

The suit was filed by a private construction contractor, Sajid Ahmed Ansari. According to the plaintiff, on April 24, 1990, he was overseeing construction work at the site of a client when an electric wire fell on him.

He received severe burns on stomach besides right hand and leg and was removed to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH), where Dr Shamim after first aid advised admission of the victim to the burns ward for further treatment.

The family however was not satisfied with the treatment administered to the victim at the ASH and shifted him to the AKUH. Dr Shaista attended the plaintiff and advised his immediate operation. The attendants were asked to pay Rs0.1 million in advance after which plaintiff Sajid was operated upon. Half of his right hand and half of right leg were amputated on the day he met with the accident, and he was operated upon for a second time two days later. The plaintiff remained hospitalized for 25 days during which he was operated upon five times by the defendant and during this period he lost his right hand and right leg.

When the suit came up for hearing on Thursday, the defendant led her statement in defence after which she was cross-examined by Advocate Rizwan Ahmed Siddiqui, counsel for the pauper plaintiff.

During cross-examination, the defendant stated that the AKUH had no burns ward and general surgeons attended to the patients. She stated that she attended the patient with students of 5th year professional MBBS.

Answering a question, she said no other surgeon, plastic, diabetes or cardiac was consulted by her and decisions for subsequent operations were taken by her.

She also stated that at the AKUH as a matter of principle no surgeon or doctor from outside was consulted as the AKUH has its own faculty in every branch of medicine.

When asked to describe the nature of Gangrene suffered by the patient/plaintiff, she said the patient suffered from “dry Gangrene.”

“Besides the entire right hand and leg were barbecued,” she stated while explaining burn injuries sustained by the plaintiff.

The court later put off further proceedings to a date to be fixed by office of the court when final arguments will be submitted by the counsel for the plaintiff and the defendant.

The suit was filed after the plaintiff moved the then chief justice of the SHC narrating his ordeal.

The CJ had referred the matter to the late Sharaf Faridi, the then president of the Sindh High Court Bar Association, who entrusted the case to Rizwan Siddiqui for contesting the matter on humanitarian grounds.

As the plaintiff was unable to pay court fee, on a motion by the counsel for plaintiff, the plaintiff was declared pauper litigant by the SHC and payment of fee was condoned. The counsel also contested the suit voluntarily.

HEARING PUT OFF: A division bench of the Sindh High Court comprising Justice Shabbir Ahmed and Justice Gulzar Ahmed on Thursday put off hearing of a constitutional petition challenging alleged illegal detention of Iqbal Qureshi of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM-H).

When the petition came up, Khurram Maqsood, counsel for the petitioner, requested the bench to direct the state for providing details of the case in which the detenu was nominated.

The bench, after initial arguments, for want of time put off further hearing to a date to be fixed later.

Iqbal Qureshi has been booked and arrested in three cases of dacoity by the Karachi police. He was released on bail. He was lastly arrested in a case of possessing illegal arms, and remanded to judicial custody till Sept 3 by a judicial magistrate.

SENTENCE SUSPENDED: An appellate bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC) for accountability courts on Thursday suspended a sentence awarded to an ex-deputy general manager of Pakistan Steel Mills by an accountability court.

The bench was hearing a miscellaneous application filed by convict Adil Hayat Akhtar, ordered to undergo imprisonment for seven years by the ACC-III. He was also fined Rs1.5 million and, in case of default on payment, to serve another three years’ sentence.

When the application came up for hearing, the counsel for the appellant submitted that the sentence of co-convicts — Dr Usman Farooqui, former chairman of the PSM, and Abdul Wahab, general manager, had been suspended by another division bench of the SHC.

The counsel also drew attention of the bench to the fact that the issue of remissions earned by the convicts had already been referred to a full bench.

The bench after hearing the counsel held that since the matter was referred to a full bench and hearing was not likely to conclude in the near future, without touching the question of remission, sentence awarded to the applicant was suspended.— APP