Expensive healthcare: CJP summons owners of Lahore's private hospitals

LAHORE: Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar on Saturday took suo motu notice of the expensive healthcare facilities in private hospitals of Lahore, ARY News reported.

The CJP, while hearing a case at the apex court’s Lahore Registry, ordered to summon the owners of more than ten private hospitals to appear before the court on Sunday.

The judge was of the view that private hospitals are fleeing patients in the name of healthcare and the court has been receiving complaints against them on daily basis.

Justice Nisar also issued notices to the Secretary Health Punjab and Punjab Healthcare Commission in the case.

He also expressed displeasure over private hospitals’ act of using roads as parking spaces and warned that if he sees cars parked outside private hospitals, the hospital will be charged Rs10,000 per car and the amount will go to the PM-CJP dam fund.

Earlier in the day, the country’s top judge held a hearing in a case pertaining to use of underground water by bottled water brands, the CJP had announced that he will try those opposing dams’ construction in the country under Article 6 of the Consitution of Pakistan.

He maintained that his only purpose is to serve the nation and if anyone hinders the process of building water reservoirs he may as well try him for high treason.

The CJP also conducted a hearing of a case pertaining to over Rs60 billion loss incurred by Pakistan Railways.

Pakistan Railways had told the National Assembly in March that it had suffered a loss of Rs20.6bn between July 2017 and January 2018.