Staff Reporter Peshawar
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has turned down proposed fee structure for forensic services in hospitals.
The Khyber Teaching Hospital (MTI/KTH) in a letter to Health Department has proposed a fee structure for 17 forensic services which include Autopsy, Medico-legal examination, age estimation, and Toxicology and DNA analysis.
The KP government said that proposed fee structure for forensic service was regretted and returned the case to revisit the decision by concerned BOGs.
The Health Department in a letter written to Dean, Khyber Teaching Hospital said that under the Rules of Business 1985, provision of medico-legal services is the responsibility of Health Department and the department is providing these services free of cost.
Given the fact that forensic services play the most decisive role in the criminal justice system, charging fee for these services may jeopardize the Criminal Justice System especially in the context of Khyber Pakthunkhwa, where various socio-cultural and economic barriers that lead to the disinclination of society to avail these services , are already challenging the smooth operations of the criminal investigation.
Furthermore, changing the fee for forensic services may aggravate the grievances of the complainant and may lead to their distrust in the system.
