LHC cancels SZH transfer to Punjab govt

LAHORE:  

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday set aside the transfer of the Sheikh Zayed Hospital (SZH) from the federal government (Cabinet Division) to the Punjab government.

The court declared the notification, issued for the transfer, unconstitutional.

The court held that the SZH, along with all its components, should stand restored to the federal government, within the period of six months.

According to the court, all appointments, including that of the chairman SZH, made by the provincial government after devolution, were also illegal.



It added that the SZH was established by the federal government and not by any trust. "Consequently, all orders regarding establishment of the board of trustees to run affairs of the institution were ultra vires of the constitution."

Justice Muhammad Farrukh Irfan Khan passed these orders while allowing petitions, filed by All Pakistan Paramedical Staff Federation, SZH unit and others, against the transfer of the SZH from the federal government to the Punjab government.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 17^th, 2017.