CJP takes suo moto notice of Quetta hospital blast
Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali took action on the demand of legal fraternity.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News / APP) – Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Anwar Zaheer on Wednesday took suo moto notice of Aug 8 suicide blast at Quetta civil hospital that claimed lives of more than 70 people, most of them lawyers.
The notice was taken on a note of Registrar containing the details of the Quetta bomb blast.
The note stated that the Quetta incident has raised many doubts about the sate of governance in Balochistan in particular and the country in general.
It said the way the planned incident took place, brings into question the efficacy of the state machinery. Lack of security arrangements, despite past precedents points at the miserable failure of Provincial Government and law enforcement agencies to avert the tragic incident, it added.
The note stated the lack of proper security arrangements by the administration constitutes violation of fundamental right of life and liberty guaranteed under Article 9 of the Constitution.
Moreover, insufficient arrangements and medical facilities in the hospital of the Provincial headquarter resulted in further loss of life, it added.
The serious injured were compelled to be shifted from Civil Hospital to the CMH and other hospitals outside the province. The post-disaster scenario is not encouraging either. It appears that the incident has been forgotten and no headway has been made in either tracing the culprits or to mobilze state resources to prevent such occurrences in future. There is no evidence of any cognizance taken by the Provincial Government in this regard.
After going through the note, the Chief Justice of Pakistan has directed the office to fix the case in Court on September 20 with notice to Chief Secretary, Advocate General Balochistan and IG Balochistan.
LAWYERS CONTINUE STRIKE
Lawyers in Balochistan continued to boycott court proceedings on 23rd day in protest against the tragic incident. They have announced to continue strike till recovery of their injured colleagues.
The suicide bomber had targeted a group of mourning lawyers, who had gathered at the emergency department of the civil hospital to accompany the body of Balochistan Bar Association President Bilal Anwar Kasi, who was shot dead by unidentified men earlier in the day.
Journalists were also among the victims, with at least two cameramen killed. One cameraman was named by local media as Aaj TV’s Shehzad Khan. The other was Mehmood Khan of Dawn News, who had in the past worked for Al Jazeera.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a faction of banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had claimed responsibility of the suicide blast.
