The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has reserved its judgment after concluding arguments on a petition filed against the non-payment of monthly stipends to doctors doing house jobs after completing their MBBS from a private medical college.
The case was heard by a two-member bench comprising Justice Muhammad Naeem Anwar and Justice Kamran Hayat Miankhel. The petition was filed by Ahmad and several other house job doctors.
During the hearing, the petitioners' counsel, Advocate Mohsin Kamran Siddiqui, informed the court that his clients had been serving as house job doctors for over a year at Jinnah Teaching Hospital, yet had not received any stipends to date.
He added that the hospital administration's stance was that the stipends could not be paid because the petitioners allegedly had not paid their college fees. However, he argued that all fees had in fact been paid and relevant proof had been submitted to the court.
The court was further informed that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had previously been instructed to investigate and freeze the accounts of Mohammad College of Medicine, where these students were enrolled. The court had also directed that the fees of students be paid to the institutions where they had been shifted.
The petitioners' counsel mentioned a similar case in the past in which the court had ordered both employment and stipend payments for students.
He further noted that although the house jobs of the petitioners had now ended, they had still not received any payments. The opposing parties repeatedly seek adjournments, delaying the matter unnecessarily.
A representative of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) informed the court that the Council had already submitted its response in the case.
After hearing the final arguments from the petitioners' side, the court reserved its verdict.
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