PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on Saturday challenged in the Peshawar High Court the appointment of Dr Nowsherwan Burki as chairman board of governors of the Lady Reading Hospital, the largest public sector teaching hospital in the province, stating that he was a US national living outside Pakistan for the last over 50 years.

A writ petition was filed in the court through Dr Hussain Ahmad Haroon, provincial president of PMA, requesting the court to declare the appointment of Dr Burki, who is cousin of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan, by the provincial health secretary as illegal, without jurisdiction and for political considerations.

The petitioner has already filed several other petitions, including the one through which the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Medical Teaching Institutions Reforms Act 2015 has been challenged. The said Act is an important piece of legislation for the present government and is aimed at reforming the public sector teaching hospitals.

The respondents in the instant petition are provincial government through its chief secretary, the provincial health secretary, Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) and Dr Burki. The petition is filed through senior advocate Mian Mohibullah Kakakhel.

PMA says Dr Burki is a US national and not fit for the job

The petitioner claimed that Dr Burki had shifted to the US somewhere in 1966 and had acquired US nationality. He alleged that he had now no national identity card issued by Nadra, no cell phone SIM in his name and had all along been living and practicing in the US till he reached the age of 78.

The petitioner claimed that the PMDC Rules prohibited appointment of a person above 70 years in a medical institution.

He alleged that Dr Burki after his appointment as chairman of the board of governors (BoG) of LRH a few months ago had now been running the hospital through e-mails and Skype video conferencing as he was in the US.

He alleged that Dr Burki had simply been appointed by the government because he was cousin of Imran Khan and thus the appointment was made on political consideration.

The petitioner contended that the appointment had purportedly been made under the KP Medical Teaching Institutions Reforms Act 2015 without repealing the Civil Servants Act, under which a person of 78 years living in the US and its citizen could not be appointed on any post in any of the hospitals.

He claimed that Dr Burki was appointed in a clandestine manner as there was no advertisement for his appointment and he had not appeared in any interview.

He requested the court that as interim relief Dr Burki may be restrained from acting as chairman of BoG till final disposal of the writ petition.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2015

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