PESHAWAR: A Peshawar High Court bench on Thursday issued a stay order suspending the implementation of a provincial government notification for the transfer of 20 protesting paramedics under the Essential Services (Maintenance) Act, 1958.

Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Irshad Qaiser also sought comments from the health secretary and relevant board of governors of the Lady Reading Hospital and Khyber Teaching Hospital, two major public sector health institutions, about the petition jointly filed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Paramedics Association president Johar Ali, Roedar Shah, Riaz Burki, and others on the matter.

The petitioners were transferred from the LRH and the KTH in Peshawar to other areas early this month after the provincial government declared health services an essential service under the Essential Services (Maintenance) Act, 1958.

Shumail Ahmad Butt, lawyer for the petitioners, said few days ago, health professionals had staged protests and observed strike against the invoking of the Essential Services Act in the health department and some other issues.

He said the protest was led by doctors but the health secretary instead of taking any action against them transferred representatives of paramedics under the law.

The lawyer said under the Essential Services Act, the government had no powers to transfer an employee and instead, it had to refer a case to the court in case of any violation of that law.

He added that trial had to be conducted by a magistrate who was empowered to sentence an employee found to be guilty of an offence under the Act to one-year imprisonment.

The lawyer said the government had victimised low-cadre employees instead of taking action against influential doctors.

BAIL DENIED: An anti-terrorism court on Thursday dismissed the bail petition of a man arrested on the charge of kidnapping a minor boy for ransom in Nowshera district. Judge Saleem Jan Khan declared that petitioner Mohammad Nabi, of Pabbi area in Nowshera, did not deserve to be freed on bail.

A state prosecutor said the petitioner had kidnapped six-year-old Ali Raza, whose father had lodged a complaint with the Nowshera police.

He said during investigation, the police recovered the kidnapped boy from a motorcar driven by the petitioner.

The prosecutor said the petitioner was charged under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act and Section 365-A of Pakistan Penal Code and that the offences in both sections were non-bailable.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2016