Shuffle at the top: IHC orders removal of Pims administrator

Directs CADD to appoint Dr Jamal as temporary chief, replacing Dr Memon.

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday directed the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) to appoint a new acting administrator of Pakistan Institute of Medical Science (Pims).

The court directed CADD to assign the temporary charge to Dr Mehmood Jamal after a petition was filed challenging the appointment of the current provisional administrator Pims Dr Iqbal Memon.

Memon had taken over the reins of the hospital after the court had removed then Executive Director Dr Riaz Ahmed Warraich in April this year, citing a lack of ‘competitive process’ in his hiring.

The current petition, filed by CADD Director General Dr Iftikhar Ahmed Khan on Friday, challenged Memon’s appointment, stating that he was not qualified for the post.

Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, while hearing Khan’s petition, directed CADD to appoint Jamal as the acting administrator. Khan’s counsel, Umar Riaz, maintained that Memon is not qualified to oversee the hospital’s affairs but was still given the acting charge by secretary CADD, which is unfair. He informed that Memon is also the head of the anaesthesia and surgical intensive care department and does not have adequate experience for his post.

The petitioner’s counsel further argued that his client is originally an employee of Pims, however, he was posted out as DG Health in CADD which is a ceremonial post. He requested the court to accept his petition and pass Khan’s transfer order back to Pims.

The court sought reply from CADD and Establishment secretaries and adjourned the matter till after the summer vacations. Sources in Pims told Express Tribune that Khan is actually interested in becoming the hospital’s administrator as it is an old agenda of his.

In October 2012, Jamal was removed as the hospital’s top doctor by the previous government, which appointed Warraich in his place. That appointment was declared null and void by Justice Siddiqui when Pims’ joint executive director Dr Altaf Hussain had challenged Dr Warraich’s appointment.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 6^th, 2013.