Notices to govt in SZMC chairman case

Lahore: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday issued notices to Punjab government and secretary of specialised healthcare and medical education department on a petition challenging the process for the appointment of Sheikh Zayed Medical Complex (SZMC) chairman.

Justice Rasaal Hassan Syed heard the arguments of the petitioner’s counsel at length before issuing the notices to the respondents for Jan 10. Prof Shahzad Ashraf, head of Department of Transplant Surgery (Kidney) at the SZMC, has moved the petition.

Advocate Nasir Qureshi argued on behalf of the petitioner that the government relaxed the eligibility criteria for the post in violation of a reported judgment of the LHC and decisions of the Board of Governors (BoG) of the SZMC. He said the government had no legal justification or lawful authority to alter the minimum eligibility criteria set for the post.

The counsel stated that previously a candidate was required to have at least 15 publications to his/her credit, including at least three international publications, to become eligible for the post. The lawyer requested the court to set aside the impugned decision of the government and suspend the appointment process till the decision on the petition.