Govt yet to make appointments in new Pakistan Medical Commission, court told

IHC issues notice to govt to explain creation of commission

ISLAMABAD/ LAHORE: The government has been asked to explain the creation of the controversial new medical commission in place of the dissolved medical council, with officials telling a court that they have yet to advertise to fill any positions in the new body.

This was disclosed as a single-member bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani, on Friday took up a petition challenging the creation of the new Pakistan Medical Council by the federal government and dissolving the existing regulator of doctors and medical educational institutions, the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) — through an ordinance.

During Friday’s hearing, Babar Sattar, the counsel for the petitioners, argued that Presidential ordinances are passed in emergencies.

However, he contended that when the ordinance to establish the medical commission was signed, there was no apparent emergency and that the step had been taken by sidelining the Parliament.

Sattar went on to argue said that the health ministry should explain how the constitutional body, the PMDC, was dissolved in a mere 48 hours and it was replaced by the PMC.

The senior advocate went on to argue that overnight, dozens of permanent employees of the council had been removed from their jobs under the cover of an ordinance.

Furthermore, he contended that the appointment of PMC members has been made against the established rules of the government. To substantiate his argument, he claimed that the posts against people were appointed in the commission, were never advertised in the media by the relevant authorities as is required.

Responding to these assertions, Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan assured the court that no deployment will be made without first advertising the post, as outlined in the rules.

“So far, no vacancies have been advertised for employment in the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC),” he assured.

At this, the petitioner's counsel contended that while no advertisements have been made for staff of the commission, no advertisements were placed in the media about the creation of the commission and appointment of its members.

Attorney General Anwar requested the court to grant him some time to submit an appropriate response. This request was granted by the court. The court then adjourned the hearing until November 18, ordering the parties to submit a response within a week.

Medical colleges admission regulation 2019 restored

With the PMDC dissolved and admissions to medical colleges in doldrums, a high court in Lahore on Friday restored the Medical Colleges Admission Regulations 2019, which had been framed by the (now-defunct) PMDC, and allowed the admission process in medical colleges to proceed.

This was directed by a two-member bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC), comprising Justice Ayesha A Malik and Justice Jawad Hassan, as it heard an intra-court appeal filed by the now-defunct council against the judgment of a single bench which set aside the regulations.

The single-bench had ruled that the PMDC has not been vested with any power under its ordinance to amend the protected MBBS and BDS (admission, house job and internship) regulations 2018, on petitions filed by several dual-national citizens.

“The 2018 regulations are restored to their original, amended form. Consequently, the competent authority can proceed with the admission process as per the 2018 regulations," the bench ruled.

In its 9-page verdict, the bench held that the council had powers to amend the 2018 regulations. “Section 49 of PMDC Ordinance 2019 grants special permission to the new council to alter, repeal or modify the existing regulations," it added.

The court further ruled that the students were not entitled to any foreign seat quota under the 2018 regulations as they were admittedly students who had completed their O’ and A’ Levels in Pakistan to secure equivalency of Secondary School Education and 12th-grade examination. Hence, they were not foreign residents.

The bench further noted that the contention of the respondents that the amendments came as surprise to them was without basis as the amendments were publicized in June 2019 whereas the petitioners filed the petitions in September after obtaining their MDCAT result.

Earlier, in his final arguments, the PMDC's counsel argued that some 70,000 students had appeared for MDCAT examinations but only four had challenged the amendments made by the PMDC.

“They challenged the amendments after failing to qualify on merit,” he argued.

The court was further told that foreign quota seats are available for those dual national or overseas Pakistani, who permanently reside in a foreign country and have passed their 12th-grade examination or equivalent from outside Pakistan and at the time of admission, are residents of a foreign country.

However, a counsel for the students argued that the PMDC did not have the powers to amend the 2018 regulations.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 9^th, 2019.