PMDC told to inspect private medical colleges

IHC restrains council from acting against institutions

ISLAMABAD: The apex regulator of medical teaching institutions in the country was barred on Wednesday from taking action against two private medical colleges. Instead, the regulator was directed to send an inspection team to decide the fate of the private institutions on merit.

Both colleges had been registered by the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) but the commission was later dissolved and its decisions were voided, raising a question mark on the registration of these institutes.

A single-member bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, on Wednesday heard a case filed by the colleges on their registration.

The case began with the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) submitting a report on both institutions.

The counsel for the colleges said that the now-defunct PMC had initially approved the establishment of both colleges. But after the PMDC was restored, he said that the colleges were initially put in the list of those colleges seeking registration anew. But later, the counsel claimed, the colleges were also removed from that list.

At this, the court remarked that it had revoked all decisions made by the PMC.

However, it said that the council’s actions should be in-line with its rules and regulations and restrained it from taking any action against the colleges until the next hearing.

PMDC’s counsel complained that the council’s offices have been sealed and thus, it neither has any contractual nor daily-wage employees left.

Justice Aurangzeb, however, instructed the PMDC to send its inspection team to both institutions to check if they fulfilled all the standards required for a medical institution. The court further remarked that inspectors should do their job with honesty and keep their biases aside.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 21^st, 2020.