PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Thursday raised questions about the powers of caretakers to remove public sector employees and the maintainability of the matter, and sought the response of the government and sacked members of two medical teaching institutions (MTIs) to a related petition.

       A bench consisting of Justice Shakeel Ahmad and Justice Shahid Khan fixed Aug 22 for next hearing asking the advocate general as well as lawyers for petitioners to respond to the questions formulated by it on the matter.

       The petition was jointly filed by ousted chairperson of the board of governors for MTI Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar Dr Nausherwan Burki and its former members, including Dr Shahnaz Nawaz and Dr Zarak Khan, as well as former chairperson of the BoG for MTI Ayub Teaching Hospital Abbottabad Dr Mohammad Asim Yousaf.

       They were sacked through separate notifications on June 26. Their successors were appointed through notifications issued on July 3 and 4.

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       Asks govt, sacked MTI members whether matter maintainable

       Counsel for petitioners Shumail Ahmad Butt contended that the impugned notifications issued by the government were in excess of the powers caretaker assigned to the caretaker government under the Constitution and Elections Act, 2017.

       Advocate General Aamir Javed and Advocate Sardar Nasir Aslam Khan, who represented a recently appointed chairperson of the MTI Ayub Teaching Hospital’s BoG, contended that the petition was not maintainable and should be dismissed.

       Following arguments by both the sides, the bench formulated several questions for decision including whether the notifications issued for the removal of the petitioners were in accordance with law; whether under Section 16(A) of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa MTI Reforms Act only the MTI Appellate Tribunal was empowered to hear the grievance of the petitioners; whether any other forum was available to the petitioners to approach for redressing their grievance and if any forum was available then the high court could hear the instant petition under its Constitutional jurisdiction; whether the removal and appointment of chairpersons/ members of the MTI BoGs were in conflict with the provisions of the Elections Act or not, and whether, the caretaker chief minister could exercise his powers only in relation to day-to-day affairs of the government or he could also remove and appoint an official.

       The respondents in the petitions are the provincial government through its chief secretary, provincial health secretary, section officer (MTIs) health department and seven of the recently appointed BoG chairpersons and members of BoGs of MTIs Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), Ayub Teaching Hospital (ATH) and Khalifa Gul Nawaz Hospital Bannu.

       Mr Butt requested the court to declare that the role of the caretaker set-up was confined to running day-to-day affairs of the state with the help of available resources and manpower and could not take policy decisions and permanent measures including recruitment, making appointments, transfers and postings and removals.

       He said the previous Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government had passed the MTI Reforms Act in 2015 to run the teaching hospitals through BoGs instead of the health department.

       The counsel added that BoGs of respective MTIs had several achievements to their credit and it was only natural that those boards would be allowed to complete their tenure.

       He, however, said that to their utmost surprise, a summary was moved by the secretary health to remove the members of the MTI BoGs. Mr Butt said the summary was placed before the caretaker cabinet, which approved it on March 16.

       He pointed out that in the light of the said controversial decision some of the BoGs were de-notified by the government which came under challenge before the high court.

       The lawyer said on May 8, different notifications were issued through which the earlier notifications of the dissolution of the BoGs were withdrawn.

       He contended that once that plan of the caretaker government was frustrated, the government had now once again removed the petitioners by issuing the impugned notifications of Jun 26 without affording any opportunity of hearing to the petitioners.

       AG Aamir Javed contended that the removal of the petitioners was in accordance with law. He said the petitioners were mostly sacked for being members of the boards of private hospitals as well.

       He also insisted that Nausherwan Burki was in the US and the power of attorney he sent in didn’t comply with the law.

       Mr Javed contended that newly-appointed MTI members and chairpersons had also assumed the charge of their offices and therefore, interim relief could not be granted to the petitioners at the current stage.

       He argued that under the law the petitioners had to approach the MTI Appellate Tribunal and not the high court.

       Advocate Sardar Nasir Aslam Khan contended that after enacting the MTI law, the then government had appointed its favourite persons in the BoGs and had destroyed the health system.

       He said in the ATH, the former BoG chairperson had not been attending meetings for many months as he also worked in Shaukat Khanum Hospital due to which the matters in that hospital had worsened.

       Mr Khan added that the newly-appointed board chairperson had started to streamline the affairs of the ATH.

       Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2023