PESHAWAR: A Peshawar High Court bench has directed the provincial health department and the board of governors of the Qazi Hussain Ahmad Medical Complex, Nowshera, to respond to a petition challenging the appointment of the institution`s hospital director last month.

Justice Ikramullah Khan and Justice Mohammad Ibrahim Khan issued the order after preliminary hearing into the petition filed by associate professorand staff member of the Qazi Hussain Ahmad Medical Complex Dr Hamzullah Khan, who insisted that the appointment of Dr Mohammad Arif as the hospital director was illegal.

The petitioner requested the court to declare the notification issued on Mar 13, 2019, for the appointment of Dr Arif as the hospital director against the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Medical Teaching Institutions Reforms Act, 2015.

The respondents in the petition are the provincial health secretary, chairman and secretary of the complex`s BoG, and hospital director Dr Mohammad Arif.

Ijaz Khan Sabi, lawyer for petitioner, said the BoG of Nowshera medical complex had advertised the post of hospital director in June 2018 and his client and 25 others had applied for it.

He added that the applicants`documents were scrutinised but the appointment process was abandoned at the short-listing stage for unidentified reasons.

The counsel said the BoG reinvited applications for the post on Jan 15, 2019 but that advertisement, too, was withdrawn on Jan 18 without assigning any reason.

He said Dr Arif was later made the full-fledged hospital director for five years extendable for another statutory period on the satisfactory completion of the first term.

Mr Ijaz said his client had formally complained to the BoG chairman highlighting irregularities in the said appointment, but to no avail.

He claimed that Dr Arif was inducted as a medical officer in the health department before he was posted as the deputy medical superintendent (administration) to the Nowshera medical complex.The lawyer said Dr Arif was made the hospital director on Mar 13.

He said under the MTI Act, the BoGchairmanincase of exigency of service could appoint a hospital director on officiating basis for three months only but Dr Arif was appointed for five years.

The lawyer said the MTI law provided a mechanism for the appointment of a hospital director under which there should be a selection committee formed by the board, whose recommendation should lead to the filling of the post.

He claimed that no such procedure was followed in the instant appointment.

The lawyer said it was an established law that no appointment could be made without advertisement but Dr Arif was appointed as hospital director, a BPS-20 post, without any advertisement.