In court: SHC stays appointments of faculty on vacant posts of Jinnah Sindh Medical University

Court seeks explanation why junior officers are not being promoted to these posts

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) granted on Tuesday a stay order on the direct appointments of the assistant, associate professors and professors on the vacant posts in Jinnah Sindh Medical University.

Headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, the bench also directed the provincial health secretary and others to file their comments, explaining why junior faculty members are not being promoted to these posts, by the next date of hearing.

The direct appointments were challenged by a petitioner, Dr Shaista Sakhawat.

The petitioner said that the management of the Jinnah Sindh Medical University had recently announced various posts for professors, assistant and associate professors in the varsity.

She alleged that the management had announced such posts in the presence of the competent medical officers, who deserved to be promoted to the next grade.



She said that, through recent advertisements, the provincial government had invited applications to fill in the posts of the professors, assistant professors and associate professors in the varsity, which was just created and there were no chances in the near future of it starting teaching in those disciplines.

The petitioner argued that the advertisements were also illegal, as the SHC had granted a stay order on the Sindh government’s attempts to meddle into the administrative affairs of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center, the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases and the National Institute of Child Health, as all of them belonged to the federal government and their devolution to the provincial government was challenged in the court. The same matter is still sub judice, therefore, no appointments or promotions can be made, she added.

The court was pleaded to declare the advertisements for direct appointments instead of filling the posts by promoting the junior officials as illegal and having no legal effect.

It was also requested to grant a stay against the appointments till the final decision of the case.

Issuing notices to the provincial health secretary and others to file their comments, the bench granted a stay against the appointments.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 9^th, 2015.