SHC allows recruitment in JPMC on contractual basis

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has observed that the Sindh government shall be at liberty to make recruitment in Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre purely on a contractual basis in accordance with the memorandum of understanding signed between the provincial and federal governments.

The high court, however, observed that all the rights and privileges of the federal government’s employees in respect of their services shall not be prejudiced on the reason of contractual recruitment of employees under the MoU executed between the federal and provincial governments, and the rights of the plaintiffs as to their due promotion shall not be taken away on the basis of the impugned recruitment.

The direction came on lawsuits of JPMC employees against handing over of the health facility to the Sindh government and contractual appointments there.

The plaintiffs’ counsel argued that the JPMC had been declared as a federal institution falling under the domain of the federal government while the executive director of the JPMC in complete derogation of a Supreme Court order had issued an advertisement calling for applications for fresh recruitment in the JPMC.

He submitted that the JPMC and Sindh government had also abolished the existing posts and instead created new posts to which the new appointees would be posted on pay scales much higher than those of the existing employees.

The counsel said that such an act, besides being illegal and unlawful, also amounted to prejudicing the rights of current employees, including the plaintiffs, who shall be deprived of getting promotions as either the posts on which they could be promoted to, would have been abolished or occupied by the new contractual appointees.

The plaintiffs’ counsel submitted that as and when the plaintiffs would be entitled to a promotion, they would be refused such in view of no existing vacant positions as all such positions would have been filled with contractual appointments that were being made illegally in utter disregard of the legal framework or the positions on which they would be promoted to would no longer be available.

He submitted that in case the defendants were allowed to appoint contractual employees on the vacant seats of the civil servants, the same would ultimately render the civil servants without any future promotion prospects as the posts they shall be entitled for would either have been abolished or occupied by contractual employees.

He requested the high court to declare that the executive director of the JPMC could not hire/depute/transfer anyone without following the due process of law and all such recruitments/transfers/postings were void ab initio.

The JPMC executive director submitted in comments that the lawsuits were not maintainable as the subject matter was sub judice before the court in a constitutional petition. He submitted that the hiring of post fellow doctors and transfer of medical officers did not affect the plaintiffs and such a hiring not a contractual, ad- hoc or regular appointment but only stipendiary-type hiring purely in public interest.

The JPMC chief submitted that the health facility was a big institution and to meet the growing needs of population, they were expanding its size on the public private partnership basis with the aim of improvement in its health services and this all required human resources.

He said the devolution of the JPMC to the government of Sindh remained sub-judice before the high court and apex court, and a large number of employees, doctors, nurses, paramedical and ancillary staff ahd retired through the passage of time, due to which there were a large number of vacancies needed to be filled up immediately for smooth working of the institution.

He submitted that the process of hiring had been initiated in the best interest of public and the Sindh government was spending millions of rupees for running the institution, but on other hand, the federal government was not spending a single penny even after judgment of the apex court hence there was no option but to shut down some wards or to make arrangements for smooth functioning of the JPMC to provide patient care and continue teaching and training at the institution.

He submitted that the MoU was executed by virtue of the Article 146 of the Constitution which empowered the federation to do so. The high court was requested to dismiss the case and grant permission to hire stipendiary slots of post fellows to meet acute shortage of doctors, allow transfer of medical officers from the government of Sindh to the JPMC, and allow recruitment against all vacant posts of doctors, nurses, paramedical and ancillary staff meant for smooth functioning of the health facility.

A single bench of the SHC comprising Justice Salahuddin Panhwar after hearing the arguments observed that the action of the JPMC in appointing the contractual employees for a period of one year was in the public interest for providing treatment to citizens round the clock.

The high court observed that the Sindh government had assured that all the due promotions of the employees of the JPMC had already been attended to and it had also undertaken that in the future, the contractual recruitments shall not affect the promotions of the plaintiffs and other permanent employees.

The SHC observed that the plaintiffs did not prima facie have case in their favour, nor the balance of convenience lied in their favour.

The high court observed that if the recruitments purely on contract basis were not made, the public at large shall suffer irreparable loss rather than the plaintiffs.

The bench disposed of the lawsuits with the observations that the Sindh government shall be at liberty to make recruitments purely on a contractual basis in accordance with the MoU.

The SHC, however, observed that all the rights and privileges of the plaintiffs in respect of their services shall not be prejudiced on the reason of contractual recruitments.