PHC seeks reply from KP govt over MTI Act 2018

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has sought a written reply from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and other respondents in a writ petition challenging the impugned Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Medical Teaching Institutions Act 2018.

A division bench headed by Justice Syed Afsar Shah issued the notice to 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. The court directed the respondents to submit a reply before the next hearing.

The petition was filed by Dr Qaiser Inayat, Professor of Anatomy, Chairman and Head of the Department of Anatomy, Khyber Medical College (KMC), affiliated with Medical Teaching Institute (MTI).

When the bench took up the petition for a hearing, the counsel for the petitioner submitted the present government soon after installation in 2018 once again brought the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Medical Teaching Institutions (Reforms), Amendment Bill, 2018.

He pointed out that the government passed the draft-bill in a manner, which not only smacked of 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.

The counsel argued that the bill was never referred to or examined by any of the select committees despite the demand of the opposition. The bill was never read clause by clause and no debate was allowed on the bill in the assembly.

The court was informed that the legislature was hoodwinked by the government of the day and despite a fierce opposition and boycott of the opposition benches, the Medical Teaching Institute Act 2015 was 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.

The petitioner stated that the “MTI Amendment Act 2018” is 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.

The petition said the impugned Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Medical Teaching Institutions (Reforms) Amendment Act, 2018 was ultra vires of the Constitution and law and was passed without any 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.