LAHORE: A two-member bench of the Supreme Court on Wednesday stopped Faisalabad Medical University Vice Chancellor Dr. Fareed Al-Zafar from work and also issued a show cause notice to him.
The bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar passed these orders while hearing a suo motu notice regarding exorbitant fees charged by private medical colleges, at Supreme Court Lahore Registry.
As the proceedings began, the owners and representatives of various medical colleges of Lahore appeared before the bench on being summoned.
The owners/representatives briefed the bench about fee structure and other matters in response to queries of the bench.
However, the CJP expressed concern over the deteriorating standards in the medical profession and health facilities, besides exorbitant fees being charged by the private institutions.
The Chief Justice ordered the colleges to submit details of their bank accounts, college structure and facilities provided to the students, while restraining FMH Medical & Dental college from granting admission to further students.
The Chief Justice also took note of non-appearance of owners of three medical colleges and issued notices to them.
The Chief Justice further expressed annoyance over sanction granted by the Lahore Development Authority for the construction of Hameed Latif Hospital without proper parking facilities and summoned DG LDA for December 28 along with record in this regard.
University of Health Sciences (UHS) Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Faisal Masood apprised the bench about various deficiencies found in the private medical education system.
He submitted that the system was suffering due to lack of central admission policy besides flawed formation of regulatory body.
He submitted that mass majority of voters of regulatory body belonged to private colleges. He submitted that continued monitoring was required to strengthen the system.
Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PMDC) President Shabbir Ahmad Lehri also briefed the bench about lacunas in the medical education and pointed out that two colleges did not fall under the jurisdiction of UHS.
At this, the Chief Justice asked UHS VC and PMDC president for submitting their recommendations in written form till Next Saturday.
The bench stopped proceedings on applications for grant of affiliation status by new medical colleges.
Registrar Lahore High Court Syed Khurshid Anwar Rizvi also appeared before the bench and submitted that 12 cases involving PMDC were pending before the court.
To which, the CJP directed Registrar to seek details from all sessions judges regarding the cases in this regard. He directed him to submit a complete report within three days.
The bench expressed serious annoyance over Dr Fareed Al- Zafar, Vice Chancellor Faisalabad medical University, for his involvement in admission of a student to a private medical college despite court restraining orders.
The bench stopped the vice chancellor from work and issued a show cause notice for December 28.
Meanwhile, the bench also summoned vice chancellors of nine universities for January 20 while hearing a case pertaining to affiliating non-standard law colleges.
The bench sought details of eligibility of the law colleges and asked to submit the respective documents in this regard.
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