PESHAWAR: The impugned Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Medical Teaching Institutions Act 2018 was challenged in the Peshawar High Court on Friday.
Dr Qaiser Inayat, Professor of Anatomy, Chairman and Head of the Department of Anatomy, Khyber Medical College (KMC), affiliated with Medical Teaching Institute (MTI) challenged the act.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government through secretary Health, Medical Teaching Institute, Khyber Teaching Hospital (MTI/KTH), through hospital director, KTH Board of Governors through its chairman, Khyber Medical College (KMC), through its dean, and Khyber College of Dentistry (KCD), through its principal were made respondents.
“The present regime soon after its installation in 2018 has once again brought the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Medical Teaching Institutions (Reforms) Amendment Bill, 2018. Not only the bill was so drafted to efface already wanting intent of reforms but was handled at the Provincial Assembly in a manner which is also smacked with partiality, denial of democratic norms, violation of the Assembly Rules of Procedure and the Government Rules of Business but also through a procedure that has been tainted with mala fide in law as well as facts,” it said adding that the bill was never referred to or examined by any of the select committees despite demand of the opposition, it was never read clause by clause and no debate was allowed.
It said that the legislature was hoodwinked by the government of the day and despite a fierce opposition and boycott of the opposition benches, the already infamous MTI Act 2015 was further amended by virtue of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Medical Teaching Institutions (Reforms) Amendment Act, 2018 (hereinafter to be referred as “MTI Amendment Act 2018” for facility of reference.
“As alluded to in preceding paragraphs, this malicious package of so-called fresh reforms is only to further strangulate the employees working in these MTIs while putting further imperiously overbearing authority in the hands of the Board of Governors, who were already acting as despots, in most whimsical and autocratic manners. After the passing of the “MTI Amendment Act 2018” are equipped with unbridled and unstructured anti-employee domineering and heavy-handed powers to do whatever they want with petitioner and others with no regard to norms of equity, law and justice clearly in the realm of highhandedness and monarchic persecution,” stated the petition.
It said that the aforesaid amendment by virtue of Section 5(ii), 5(iii) and Section 8(i) in Section 5(ii), 5(iii) and 8(i)(a) of the “MTI Act, 2015” was made to the extent that the word “Government” be substituted with the word “Chief Minister”. The said amendment is a glaring violation of the recent judgment rendered by the apex Supreme Court in Mustafa Impex case, wherein it is stated that the Government means Prime Minister and the cabinet and in case of a province, the chief minister and the cabinet as the case may be whereas, in the present situation, legislation has bypassed the cabinet and vested all the powers in the chief minister so as to obtain what has been desired.
The petition said that Section 4A(4)(f) was inserted in the MTI Act 2015 by virtue of Section 4 of the “MTI Amendment Act 2018” wherein it is mentioned that the policy board shall be constituted and it shall establish minimum qualification standard for appointment on all posts of MTI and any Board of MTI may enhance such qualification.
It is important to mention here that for the aforesaid purpose, after 18th Amendment the legislation can only be made by the federal government as per the fourth schedule of the Federal Legislative List and thus the province has no right to make legislation.
It was prayed in the petition that the impugned Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Medical Teaching Institutions (Reforms) Amendment Act, 2018 was ultra vires of the Constitution and law and was passed without lawful authority.
It was prayed that the petitioner shall not be punished, prosecuted, discriminated or adversely treated in any manner to his disadvantage for approaching this court and seeking constitutional remedy against the impugned Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Medical Teaching Institutions (Reforms) Amendment Act, 2018.
Drive launched against encroachments: The Peshawar district administration has launched a drive against encroachments.
More than 300 illegal structures, including shops, houses and markets were demolished on the first day.
Encroachments were removed from the main road and sides of the road in the suburbs of Bara Road, which had been encroached on government land for the last 20 years.
District Nazim Mohammad Asim Khan and Deputy Commissioner Imran Hamid Sheikh had directed Additional Deputy Commissioner Shahid Ali to conduct the operation, said an official communiqué. The operation was launched in the morning and continued till the evening.