Islamabad High Court announces appointments of PMC members illegal

ISLAMABAD: Dr Arshad Taqi, the president of the Pakistan Medical Commission, and Ali Raza, Vice President of the Pakistan Medical Commission, were ordered to be removed from their positions by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) after their appointments were found invalid by the court. 

It was ruled that, until new members of the PMC were appointed, government personnel in charge of those duties should be notified.

In addition, the court ruled that the PMC's actions at the time were illegal. 

However, the court ruled that both the PMC Act and the policy of the golden handshake for employees were legal. 

It noted that the fired employees have the option of voicing their concerns to the new board of directors personally.

After hearing the petitions brought by PMC employees, Justice Mohsin Akhter Kayani declared that he had reserved a decision on the petitions. 

It was decided by the court that employees who had already received their pension could not be compensated for their lost benefits.

It was stated that the PMC Act, 2020 is intra vires and does not violate or go against the petitioners' basic rights in any way. 

Rule 8 of the Appointment of Members (Council and Board) Rules, 2021, which protects respondents Nos. 3 to 9 from being removed from their posts is also illegal because the appointment of those members through notification dated 25.09.2020 is illegal, non-transparent, without any selection process, and against the merits promoting favouritism and nepotism.