Appointment challenged: Single bench for plea against SZMC chief

Khan was appointed on April 10, 2015

LAHORE: Justice Ayesha A Malik of Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday turned down an application requesting the constitution of a full bench to hear a petition challenging the appointment of the Shaikh Zayed Medical Complex chairman and dean.

Judge Malik said a full bench could not be constituted to hear the petition. Rather, she said, a single bench would hear it. The counsel for the petitioner Shafqat Mehmood Chohan told the court that Farid Ahmed Khan had been named the chairman of the hospital and the dean of the medical and dental college in violation of pertinent rules. Chohan said the vacancy had not been advertised nor were other requirements fulfilled that would have made the appointment transparent. He said Khan should vacate the post. Chohan said the resulting vacancy then ought to be filled in accordance with due process. The Punjab government had appointed Khan as chairman and dean of the Shaikh Zayed Postgraduate Medical Institute and Hospital on April 10, 2015. He was serving as the head of the plastic surgery and burn unit of King Edward Medical University earlier. Khan had also served as the registrar there for four years.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 10^th, 2016.