Court restrains PMDC from passing final order to medical varsity

Karachi
The Sindh High Court restrained the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council on Tuesday from passing its final order in pursuance of its notice issued to the Jinnah Sindh Medical University over the latter’s shortage of teaching staff.
The petitioner, the Jinnah Sindh Medical University, was issued a notice by the PMDC wherein the university’s administration was directed to comply with the rules relating to the number of teachers or face action under Section 25 of the PMDC Act.
The petitioner’s counsel, Haq Nawaz Talpur, submitted that the university was linked to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, the National Institute of Child Health and the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases.
After the 18th Constitutional Amendment, the JPMC, the NICH and the NICVD had been devolved to the province but their employees went to the court against its devolution and obtained a stay order.
The counsel submitted that as the petitions of the medical facilities were pending before the court and the stay order was in place for over two years, the university’s administration was unable to exert its authority in its affiliated hospitals.
He also submitted that there was a shortage of teaching staff, but the university’s administration was unable to appoint, transfer or dismiss any employee in the hospitals.
He said the PMDC was one of the respondents in the case and aware of the devolution issue; therefore the notice was uncalled for and liable to be set aside.
The petitioner requested the court to restrain the PMDC from taking action against the university in pursuance of its notice.
An SHC division bench headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar, after the preliminary hearing of the petition, sought comments from the PMDC, the health secretary and others by January 14.
The court also directed the PMDC to continue the proceedings in pursuance of its notice but not issue the final order until the next date of hearing.

Illegal hydrants
Chief Justice of Pakistan Nasirul Mulk took notice of applications filed against illegal hydrants in Karachi that were damaging the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board’s water pipelines in different areas of the city.
The applicants submitted that not only were the increasing illegal hydrants causing water shortage in the city, but also causing environmental problems.
The chief justice of Pakistan ordered that the matter should be fixed at the apex court’s Karachi registry in the ongoing week and notices issued to all parties concerned.