As the Supreme Court (SC) Lahore registry resumed hearing a suo motu case on the inflated fee structure of private medical and dental colleges
in Punjab on Thursday, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar
made it clear that "the court does not want money to be a hindrance in
the way of an education".
The CJP had earlier this week
taken notice of deteriorating standards in the medical profession and
the unavailability of sufficient health facilities and launched an
inquiry into the government's efforts towards improving the health
sector.
Governor Punjab Muhammad Rafiq Rajwana's son, who had on Wednesday been accused of pressuring a female lawyer
involved in the case, issued an unconditional apology in court today,
claiming that the prosecutor in question, Advocate Anjum Hameed, was
"like his mother" and that they had family ties as well.
Advocate
Anjum had earlier told the court that Asif had been telephoning and
texting her to offer admission to a student who was among her
acquaintances only if she refrained from raising the issue in court.
When
he was asked why he had called Advocate Anjum, Asif Rajwana said that
the Vice Chancellor of Faisalabad University, Dr Farid — who had been suspended by the SC a day earlier — had asked him to do so.
The
CJP expressed concerns over the fee structure of medical colleges and
summoned the chief executives of all 14 private medical and dental
colleges in Lahore to furnish details of their bank accounts and the
amount of fee they charged from students. They were also asked to submit
sworn affidavits on how they were meeting Pakistan Medical and Dental
Council (PMDC) criteria.
The colleges were directed to
submit their prospectuses; the number of seats available and how many of
them had been filled on merit and quota basis; and the charges
collected from students besides fee fixed by the PMDC.
The court also restrained all unrecognised private medical colleges from offering admissions.
The
two-judge bench hearing the case today asked the Punjab chief secretary
to brief the court on the fee structure of medical colleges, and said
that there must be a policy allowing students who could not afford to
pay the fee to take admission in medical institutions.
The
chief secretary, however, assured the court that the Punjab government
had enough funds to ensure that students who could not afford a medical
education due to lack of financial resources, could be admitted to
colleges on the basis of merit.
The CJP, who is heading
the bench, said the court would not "hesitate from contacting
philanthropists if that is what it takes to allow lesser-privileged
students to get a medical education."
Justice Nisar also
ordered that the details of hospitals' bank accounts and other financial
details be submitted in court in the next hearing.
The
principal of Sharif Medical and Dental College also appeared in court
today ─ much to the bench's dismay ─ as it had ordered the main trustee
of the college — Nawaz Sharif — appear before the court.
