IHC seeks report, action details on PIMS tragedy

Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court Justice Sarfraz Dogar heard the petition filed by lawyer Qasim Iqbal Jalali. Additional Attorney General Rashid Hafeez, Deputy Attorney General Faisal Irfan and Assistant Attorney General Azmat Bashir Tarar appeared before the court during the hearing.

Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar described the PIMS tragedy as an extremely horrific incident, saying that the deaths of 14 children made it a very serious and alarming event. The court asked what action had so far been taken in the matter and against whom responsibility had been fixed.

Petitioner’s counsel Qasim Iqbal Jalali argued that both committees formed by the government comprised bureaucrats. He questioned how bureaucrats could investigate their own department and how such an inquiry could be considered acceptable, adding that responsibility had not been fixed on anyone even in the inquiry report.

The chief justice then asked under which law the court could direct a judicial inquiry and where the Inquiry Act stated that the court could issue such a direction. In response, the lawyer cited the example of a commission formed following an incident at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology.

Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar remarked that the commission in that case had been formed by the government, not by the court. The chief justice said that if the court faced an issue in any matter, it could ask one of its judges to examine it.

Qasim Iqbal Jalali maintained that no one could be made a judge of an inquiry into their own actions, adding that the inquiry report submitted regarding the tragedy had failed to determine responsibility.

At this point, Additional Attorney General Rashid Hafeez health secretary had been suspended on the day of the incident, while some PIMS officials had also been suspended on the basis of the interim report. He said the existing report was interim in nature and that the complete report would be submitted within five days.

The court also sought a report regarding the executive director of PIMS.The petitioner’s counsel requested that the executive director of PIMS be removed from the post, his services be withdrawn and responsibility against him be determined. The lawyer has an annual budget of around Rs20 billion to Rs22 billion, yet four children were being treated on a single bed.

He questioned where the hospital’s budget was being spent. Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar remarked that, in his view, the executive director had already been removed from the post. The lawyer responded that although he had been removed from the position, responsibility had not been imposed on him and the inquiry report had also not held him responsible.

During the hearing, the chief justice asked the additional attorney general whether the court could still issue an order if the government was taking action in the matter. Before adjourning the hearing, the chief justice said the court would first ascertain what action had so far been taken.

The court directed the government to provide details of the action taken so far over the PIMS tragedy, determination of responsibility and the report presented to the prime minister, while ordering the federal government to submit a detailed response in the case.