Writ petition: Peshawar High Court stays dismissal of doctors

Petitioners’ counsel says expelling doctors from their jobs is illegal

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court stayed the dismissal of doctors recruited under the Peoples Primary Health Initiative (PPHI) and sought a reply from the government.

The division bench of justices Irshad Qaiser and Syed Afsar Shah was hearing a writ petition filed by Dr Raheel and Dr Arab through their lawyer Qazi Muhammad Anwar on Monday. When hearing commenced, the court was told the previous government started PPHI to provide health facilities to people in rural areas.

Anwar said that under the initiative, the K-P government recruited doctors for basic health units in different districts across the province.

He stated these doctors were recruited from 2012 to 2015 with the aim to provide better health facilities to people in rural areas.

He stated health facilities were the constitutional right of the people and an initiative was taken to control health related issues.

He told the court the project started paying dividends and helped the government solve minor health issues thanks to better facilities at the local level.

Favouritism suspected

Anwar added the government decided to relieve doctors of their jobs, while the health department published an advertisement to hire such professionals on an ad hoc basis.

“If the K-P government is facing a shortage of funds to pay salaries of PPHI doctors, from where is it getting funds for recruiting ad hoc ones?” he asked. He stated the government wanted to recruit its favoured individuals, adding the government asked PPHI doctors to participate in the recruitment process of ad hoc doctors.

He stated this was a serious issue that could not be ignored and that expelling doctors from their jobs was illegal.

He pointed towards several judgments of higher courts in such cases.

Therefore, he requested the bench to declare the government’s decision null and void.

The bench, after hearing the arguments, stayed the dismissal and sought a reply from the government.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 31^st, 2016.