Conundrum: SHC stays PMDC action against medical varsity

Council aims to de-recognise Jinnah Sindh Medical University over lack of faculty members

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has restrained the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) from taking a final decision to de-recognise the Jinnah Sindh Medical University (JSMU) till November 26.

Headed by Sindh Chief Justice Faisal Arab, the division bench also issued a fresh notice to the PMDC to file comments explaining the rationale behind its decision to de-recognise JSMU because of a shortage of faculty members.

The university's management had approached the court in January against the likely de-recognition proceedings by the PMDC.

The petitioner submitted through its registrar, Muhammad Irfan Ashraf, that they had received a notice dated December 22, 2014 from the PMDC, directing the petitioner to meet the shortage of faculty staff for the admission of 350 MBBS students.

According to the notice, JSMU is short of 126 professors, associate professors and assistant professors in different departments and was given two weeks time to meet their shortage.

Ashraf had argued that their university was affiliated with the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) and the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD). He added that their aim was to impart better practical and technical education to students.

He recalled that, after the 18th Amendment, when the three major public sector health facilities - JPMC, NICH and NICVD - were devolved to the province, their staff challenged the devolution in the high court, which had granted a stay order.

The petitioner said that due to the stay order, which is operating since November 15, 2012, the university's management had not been able to appoint, dismiss or transfer anyone for the last two years.

Ashraf told the judges that, due to the operating stay orders, the university was facing a shortage of teaching staff. In the meanwhile, he added, the PMDC had threatened to de-recognise the medical varsity, as it did not have a proper faculty.

The petitioner argued that since the university management could not meet the staff shortage due to the court's initial stay order, PMDC should be stopped from de-recognising the medical varsity.

While initially hearing the case in January last year, the court had allowed the PMDC to continue the proceedings, but restrained it from passing any final order.

Taking up the matter on Thursday, the two judges issued a fresh notice to the PMDC office in Islamabad to file comments by November 26. Till then they continued the earlier stay order, restraining the PMDC from passing any final order.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 6^th, 2015.