PESHAWAR: A Peshawar High Court bench on Thursday disposed of three petitions against the dissolution of the Post Graduate Medical Institute (PGMI) asking the provincial government to withdraw the last year`s notification of the PGMPs dissolution.

Chief Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Ikramullah Khan directed the provincial health department to streamline the affairs of PGMI by framing relevant rules within a month time.

The petitions were filed by Pakistan Medical A ssociation through provincial president Dr Hussain Haroon, PGMI dean Prof Riaz Anwar and PGMI staff members.

The petitioners had challenged the dissolution of PGMI and subsequent de-notification of its dean Dr Riaz Anwar.

Mian Muhibullah Kakakhel and SaifullahMuhib, lawyers for the petitioners, said it was clearly mentioned in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Medical Institutions Reforms Act 2015 that the PGMI would be streamlined, but the provincial government dissolved it through an executive order and created PGMIs in all medical teaching institutions.

They insisted that the executive order was illegal and unconstitutional, which would af fect an institute created by the government for the purpose of providing education to post graduate students and doctors of international standard.

The lawyers added that the PGMI had international repute and had recently made an agreement with the Combined Military Hospital to provide education to its doctors.

Advocate general Abdul Lateef Yousafzai said the word `dissolve` was a clerical mistake in the impugned notification and in fact the word `devolve` should have been used.

He said the government had not dissolved the PGMI and had in fact been devolving it to further improve the institute`s performance.

The bench observed that the executive order was against the main Act and therefore, the government should not pass suchlike orders.

It directed the government to frame rules in the next one month to streamline the PGMI`s af fairs.

When the petitions were filed last year, the court had directed the government to maintain status quo on the matter.

The petitioners claimed that the PGMI was the only institute in the province that provided post graduate education to doctors, including four-year FCPS, various diplomas and master`s degrees for which the Khyber Medical University was the degree-awarding body.

They said the MTI Act 2015 had ensured the existence and progress of the PGMI and ensured that the PGMI`s degrees should be awarded by the KMU.

The petitioners said the PGMI was the governing body of doctors at all levels, including graduation, post graduation and foreign qualification.

They added that the current government through a notification issued on Nov 10, 2014, had strengthened the existing setup of the PGMI by making it an autonomous institution working under the administrative control of the health department.