PHC clears K-P health recruitment drive

Court lifts stay, orders panel to hear hiring grievances

PESHAWAR:

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Friday withdrew its interim stay order against the recruitment of more than 2,500 medical officers and other staff across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and disposed of the related writ petitions.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Waqar Ahmed and Justice Inamullah ruled that the provincial government must immediately activate the committee tasked with hearing complaints and providing redressal. The committee will examine each complainant's request and issue a comprehensive decision. Any candidate dissatisfied with the committee's findings will have the full right to challenge the decision before the appropriate forum.

Justice Waqar Ahmed authored the judgment. The court noted that it had heard all petitions of a similar nature and examined each one separately. Detailed reasons will be issued later. Additional Advocate General Taimur Haider represented the provincial government.

Petitioners had alleged irregularities in the recruitment of medical officers, dental surgeons and nurses on fixed-pay basis. They claimed that scrutiny and selection committees included irrelevant persons, that marking criteria were inconsistent, and that the committees' composition violated the Fixed Pay Rules 2022. They pointed out that the advertisement was issued on 26 February 2026 while amendments concerning the committees were notified only on 31 March 2026. They further argued that posts previously filled through the Public Service Commission had been shifted to the fixed-pay mode to accommodate favoured candidates.

The Additional Advocate General informed the court that the province faces a severe shortage of doctors. He submitted that the rules on the basis of which the interim stay had been obtained had already been amended and duly published. Under the amended rules, a representative of the Director General Health or the Secretary, or at the district level an EDO or any nominee selected by the Secretary, may chair the committee.