IHC orders PMDC restoration

-Dismisses petition seeking probe into Taftan quarantine

By Ali Imran

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) has directed federal government to immediately restore Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC). According to details, court was unhappy with government’s failure to restore PMDC in given deadline and ordered to immediately open locks of the council and warned for sending ministers and other officials to jail for contempt of court.
Justice Mohsin Kiyani heard a contempt of court petition and remarked that government’s action is equivalent slapping court in the face. While hearing the case, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani remarked that he is sentencing Secretary Health to 6 months in prison. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday directed the federal government to immediately restore the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC).
While hearing the case, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani expressed unhappiness over government’s failure to restore PMDC within the given deadline and ordered its immediate restoration. The judge also warned that ministers and other officials would be sent to jail in case of non-compliance with the court’s order. He said that the government’s actions were equivalent to slapping the court in the face.
The judge also sentenced the secretary health to six months in prison.
One of the ordinances promulgated by President Dr Arif Alvi led to the formation of a new body Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) thereby eliminating PMDC.
The PMC Ordinance was among those 11 presidential ordinances, which the government got passed in the form of bills from the National Assembly in a controversial manner amid ruckus by opposition members on November 7, 2019. The new body was declared illegal by the IHC in a set of petitions challenging the PTI government’s decision. On March 12, IHC had heard the federation’s intra-court appeal against IHC order restoring the PMDC.