PHC restores previous BoGs of KP hospitals

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday restored the chairmen and members of the previous Boards of Governors (BoGs) of the Medical and Teaching Institutions (MTIs) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who had been removed by the Pakhtunkhwa government.

A two-member bench of the PHC comprising Justice Ijaz Anwar and Justice Arshad Ali suspended the notification issued by the KP government.

The court observed that the respondents -- relevant authorities -- were not interested in submitting a reply in the case.

Aamir Javed, Barrister Babar Irshad Imran, Babar Khan Yousufzai, Habib Anwar, Mian Zakir Hussain and Gulzar Butt appeared for the petitioners, including Dr Umar Ayub and other members of the BoGs, who had been sent packing.

KP Advocate General Shah Faisal Utmankhel represented the government.

The counsels for the petitioners had contended that their clients were working as chairmen and members of the BoGs in various hospitals but were removed by the present government without citing any reason.

One of the petitioners, Dr Umar Ayub, said the PHC through an order had stopped the provincial government from de-notifying the BoGs members but he was removed from the board along with other members. He said the notification was issued on a back-date, June 11, which, he said, was a violation of the court’s directive and amounted to contempt of court.

A contempt of court petition was later filed against the chief minister, health minister and health secretary for removing the BoGs members despite court orders to the contrary.

It was stated in the petition that by doing away with the earlier BoGs, the KP government wanted to accommodate people in the new bodies. When the court was hearing the petition, the secretary and director general of health and other relevant officials were present in the court. The advocate general sought another two weeks to submit the response.