SHC sets aside stay order in JPMC executive director’s extension case

The Sindh High Court on Friday set aside its single bench order with regard to stay of extension of the executive director of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC).

The single bench had earlier suspended the notification of an extension granted to the executive director of the JPMC on a lawsuit of a plaintiff doctor who had challenged the extension of the executive director till his retirement on June 24, 2026.

Being aggrieved with the single bench order, the appellant Shahid Rasool’s counsel submitted that the appellant had been part of the JPMC since the beginning as the JPMC was teaching hospital where the appellant performed surgery and also provided education to medical students.

He submitted that the impugned notification was continuation of a previous notification which was not challenged by the anyone, including the respondent. He said that the impugned order was liable to be set aside as it was affecting the rights of the appellant as well as working of the JPMC.

A provincial law officer also supported the notification with regard to extension of the appellant. The respondent’s counsel opposed the high court appeal, submitting that new service structure had been made after the 18th amendment and the respondent qualified to the requirement being considered for the post of the executive director but found herself not liable to be considered on account of extension of the executive director of the JPMC till his retirement.

The counsel submitted that the appellant was earlier taken in on deputation in 2021; however, the same expired and he was earlier holding the post in Jinnah Sindh Medical University. The counsel argued that the Sindh government was not empowered to make an appointment being the owner of the JPMC as held by the Supreme Court and even the working understanding agreed to between the parties provided for the post to be considered from officials of the JPMC itself.

A high court division bench comprising Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput and Justice Adan Iqbal Chaudhry, after hearing the arguments of the counsel, observed that the impugned order had been passed on submission that the Sindh government was not competent to appoint the executive director of the JPMC.

The court observed that after the Supreme Court’s judgment that JPMC was a federal entity, there was an agreement between the federal and provincial governments in which management, operational control and financial liabilities were entrusted to the Sindh government.

The court observed that ever since the Sindh government had been making appointments to the JPMC without the objection from the federal government and it seemed that these facts were not brought to the attention of the SHC’s single bench at the time of the impugned order.

The court observed that arguments that the Sindh government was not competent to appoint the executive director of the JPMC would require some deliberation by the single bench. It further observed that till such time the effect of the impugned order is that the appellant was restrained from acting as executive director of the JPMC and the question to the competence of the Sindh government also prevents it from appointing another in his place.

The court also agreed with the advocate general about Sindh’s contention the that absence of executive director at the JPMC jeopardizes the functions of an essential service to the public at large.

It observed that the impugned order requires intervention as an exception to the general rule of non-interference with the interim orders. The court set aside the interim order with the observation that the single bench may decide the application for temporary injunction either way after hearing all the parties.