LHC fine doctors for ‘malafide’ petition

 LAHORE: The Lahore high Court has released its written judgment in a petition filed by doctors working as medical officers in Punjab hospitals, seeking personal protective equipment (PPE) and additional financial relief from the government.

On Saturday, LHC Chief Justice Mohammad Qasim Khan the court not only threw out the petition, but also ordered the Punjab health department and the provincial government to take action against them for any laws they may have broken and for “bringing a bad name to the institution”.

According to the order, the petitioners pleaded for the provision of protective gear for all doctors and medical staff fighting the spread of the COVID-19 but records shared with the court showed not one of the five petitioners had been assigned duties related to COVID-19.

It added that one of the petitioners was posted for a day to screen virus patients, for which he was given complete protective gear.

Accepting the Punjab government’s stance that PPEs are only provided to doctors treating covid19- patients, the court also noted in its order that many developed countries were also facing a lack of protective equipment in the health crisis that has emerged from the outbreak.

The judges wrote in the order,  it would be unjust to give a decree against the Punjab government when it had been taking useful steps to make sure the safety of health officials.

The court also noted that the pleas by the doctors, including the financial relief package, were directly linked to their terms of service, for which they have means of redressing in the form of hierarchies in the health department.