Court seeks assistance of KP advocate general

Essential services

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Friday issued a notice to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa advocate general to assist the court in a writ petition filed against the provincial government’s notification declaring health services as essential services.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Roohul Amin Khan and Justice Syed Afsar Shah also restrained the Health Department from taking action against Prof Dr Musa Kaleem, president of Doctors Association of PGMI at the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), till the next order as the department had issued show-cause notice to him for remaining absent from duty.

The bench issued notice to secretary and director general health to submit reply as health services were made essential on February 8, 2016 and the show-cause notice was given to the petitioner who was absent from duty on February 3, five days prior to the decision about essential services.

During hearing, the petitioner’s lawyer Qazi Jawad Ihsanullah said that the show-cause notice and declaration of essential services were illegal and against the law. He said that under the West Pakistan Essential Services (Maintenance) Act, 1958, only civil defence, transport, education and universities’ services could be declared essential services in case of emergency, war and natural disasters.

The lawyer said there was no mention of health services in the statutory law of the act. He argued the provincial government could not declare the health services as essential services until and unless amendments were brought in the statutory law.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led provincial government issued a notification on February 8, declaring the health services as essential services in the province. In a statement, the provincial government claimed that it had followed a decision of the PHC, which had asked it in 2010 that the “services of medical professionals such as doctors, paramedics, nursing staff and other employees of the government hospitals shall be declared essential services and necessary amendment be made in the West Pakistan Essential Services (Amendments) Act, 1958 or the government may publish a notification in official gazette in this regard.”

Earlier, the chief secretary had issued a notification, directing all people working in the MTIs-covered hospitals and other facilities offering curative, rehabilitative, preventive, promotive and supportive services, partially or fully funded from the exchequer, that they should not leave, abandon or discontinue working at their duty places.

“The employees violating the order will face criminal cases and criminal prosecution under the law,” it said. Those found guilty of the offence under the act shall be punishable with imprisonment that may extend to one year and shall also be liable to a fine and even dismissal from service.The directives were circulated to the employees at the Lady Reading Hospital, Khyber Teaching Hospital and Hayatabad Medical Complex.