MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Supreme Court on Thursday directed the AJK government to initiate process for the appointment of principal AJK Medical College Muzaffarabad.

The process should begin in accordance with AJK Medical Colleges (Governing Body) Act 2014, read with Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) rules and regulations, the order said.

The judgment was given by larger bench comprising Justice Raja Saeed Akram Khan, Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mughal and ad-hoc judge Sardar Abdul Hameed Khan, while disposing of three appeals, filed separately by Prof Dr Jamshed Ali, Prof Dr Adnan Mehraj and the AJK government against a High Court (HC) judgment.

Prof Dr Ali was appointed AJK Medical College principal on Jan 17 on the recommendations of an “executive committee” constituted by the AJK government in October 2011 and mandated to exercise powers on behalf of government with regard to the affairs of the two public sector medical colleges in Muzaffarabad and Mirpur.

His appointment was challenged in HC by Prof Dr Mehraj, a faculty member who was among the applicants for the post, in March this year on different grounds, mainly the mandate of the committee and requisite qualifications.

According to the official advertisement, applicants for the post of principal were required to be holding any of the PhD, MRCP, FCPS and FRCS degrees, duly registered with the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC).

In July this year, the HC nullified Dr Ali’s appointment, holding that the “executive committee” had lost mandate to make recommendations for appointment, after the promulgation of AJK Medical Colleges (Governing Body) Act 2014 and therefore the appointment was without lawful authority.

However, the bench did not take into account petitioner’s contention that Dr Ali did not possess the requisite Level-III qualifications for the slot.

Both Dr Ali and Dr Mehraj filed separate appeals against parts of the HC judgment in Supreme Court in August this year. Later, the government also came in aid of Dr Ali and presented several notifications with retrospective effect about (recruitment) committees, to justify his appointment.

During the course of the hearing, Dr Mehraj’s counsel Raja Muhammad Hanif also presented record from the PMDC website, which showed that the additional qualification of Dr Ali as registered with PMDC was MPhil (pharmacology), which amounted to Level-II qualifications instead of Level-III sought by the official advertisement.

Contrarily, the additional qualification of Dr Mehraj, as registered with the PMDC, was FRCS, which amounted to Level-III qualifications.

On Thursday, when the larger bench started final hearing of the case, Mr Hanif tabled a notification issued by AJK health secretariat on November 20 and declaring the acceptance of the resignation of Dr Ali as principal AJK Medical College with effect from November 19.

On being asked by bench, Advocate General Raza Ali Khan confirmed the notification, saying the government had accepted the resignation of Dr Ali.

Barrister Hamayun Nawaz, the counsel for Dr Ali, pleaded that since he was unable to establish contact with his client, he should be given some time.

However, the bench did not oblige him, saying since the cause was not alive after the resignation of Dr Ali, there was no need to adjourn the hearing till any further date.

The bench observed that the government should arrange for the appointment of principal in accordance with the provisions of the relevant act as well as the PMDC rules and regulations governing such appointments.

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2017