KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Thursday summoned the transport secretary for Feb 14 to explain whether any mechanism was in place for issuing fitness certificates regarding the CNG kits being used in vehicles.

A two-judge bench of the SHC headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar also directed the SSP traffic to come up with a progress report on the action taken against intercity vehicles using CNG despite a ban.

When the bench took up a petition against traffic police and substandard CNG cylinders being used by public transport, the petitioner submitted that the transport and mass transit secretary had issued a notification in May 2015 imposing a ban on the use of CNG in intercity vehicles under the Provincial Motor Vehicle Ordinance 1995 in the larger interest of public safety. However, he submitted that despite the ban, CNG kits and cylinders were being used in such vehicles as well as in school vans.

A focal person for the transport department admitted that the notification was in field, but there were many issues in its implementation.

The traffic SSP also appeared before the bench and submitted that around 1,800 CNG cylinders had been removed from such vehicles, but conceded that the number of such vehicles was very high.

The bench directed the secretary for transport and mass transit to appear at the next hearing and explain if any mechanism or procedure had been laid down for issuing fitness certificates about CNG kits and cylinders in vehicles.

Muzammil Mumtaz had moved the SHC after a rickshaw driver had set himself on fire at the traffic police office in Saddar in protest after being fined by traffic police for not paying them a bribe and later died in a hospital.

The petitioner contended that the rickshaw driver was compelled to commit suicide as money was extorted from him at least thrice and alleged that it was a routine in Karachi that traffic police demanded bribes from rickshaw drivers and motorbike riders on main roads, and on refusal they imposed undue fines on them.

The petitioner maintained that substandard CNG cylinders were being used in public transport despite clear directions of the court and no action was being taken against such vehicles. Impleading the home secretary, transport secretary, traffic DIG and others as respondents, he asked the court to direct the respondents to take action against traffic policemen demanding bribes from public transport operators for using substandard CNG cylinders and overloading.

AKUH told to give details of treatment for poor

The same bench on Thursday told the lawyer representing the Aga Khan University Hospital to inform it at the next hearing about the criteria for providing free medical aid to poor patients.

The court was hearing a petition seeking directives for the AKUH to provide free-of-charge medical facilities to poor and needy citizens.

On Thursday, the lawyer for the AKUH submitted the comments and contended that the AKUH was owned and managed by the Aga Khan Hospital and Medical College Foundation (AKHMCF) which, he said, was a charitable organisation, registered under the Companies Act, 2017.

AKUH questioned about criteria for providing free treatment

The lawyer admitted that the government had granted land twice in 1980 for the construction of a charitable hospital and medical college while it was also exempted from property tax and income tax on donations.

He further contended that the mere recovery charges from patients did not change the basic character of the hospital as a charitable organisation because the profit was not made for distribution among the members of the AKHMCF and maintained that it provided patient welfare of Rs2.7 billion to more than 708,000 patients in 2017.

When the court asked the lawyer about the criteria for providing free medical aid to poor patients by the hospital, he sought time to provide relevant details, and the matter was adjourned till Feb 14.

Dur Mohammad Shah petitioned the SHC and contended that although land was allotted to the AKUH for charitable purposes, in practice the hospital administration was charging patients higher fees than those charged by other charitable hospitals.

He said that under Section 10(4) of the Colonisation of Government Lands Act, the payment of land revenue annual assessment charges had to be made and recovered from the AKUH and it required a revised assessment on the expiry of the term after 10 years when the settlement of land was executed, but no annual assessment of payment of land revenue on the expiry of 10 years had ever been made or recovered from the university hospital by the government.

He said that the AKUH was built and operated for charitable purposes to serve the poor, but unfortunately it was providing medical facility at a heavy cost, adding that poor patients could not afford the specialised healthcare they desperately needed.

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2019