ABBOTTABAD: The Peshawar High Court’s Abbottabad Circuit Bench on Thursday directed the health secretary and Ayub Medical Teaching Institution, Abbottabad, board of governors not to act against Ayub Medical College dean Prof Azizunnisa and other doctors until further orders.

Justice Lal Jan Khattak and Justice Attique Shah also sought comments of the relevant authorities on the petition challenging the issuance of show cause notice by the chairman of the institute’s BoG to Prof Azizunnisa.

The respondents were also asked to respond another petition challenging an inquiry conducted by the divisional monitoring and evaluation department against Prof Azizunnisa.

The bench adjourned the hearing until Feb 6.

In a petition, Dr Salim Wazir, Prof Azizunnisa, Dr Sardar Ayub, Prof Shahid Sultan, Dr Umer Hayat, Dr Shehzad Najeeb and Engineer Sajjad Alam claimed that the Ayub Medical Teaching Institute BoG, especially chairman, wanted to remove Prof Azizunnisa from the post of the dean and leveled baseless allegations against her without formally conducting inquiry under the Efficiency & Disciplinary Rules, 2011.

They added that reply to the ‘politically motivated’ show cause notice had been given.

Seeks comments of authorities on show cause notice

The petitioners sought the court’s orders for suspending action on the show cause notice and stopping the board from taking any adverse action against the dean.

In the other petition, Prof Azizunnisa said the divisional monitoring and evaluation department had conducted an inquiry against her and recommended the termination of her service, which she learned about through the show cause notice.

She said she wasn’t formally told about grievances against her and therefore, the recommendation against her was without lawful authority.

The petitioner insisted that the respondents had got no authority to interfere in the matters of an autonomous body, while the BoG couldn’t take any adverse action against her on the basis of any alleged inquiry not conducted by itself without the issuance of notice to her.

It pleaded that the inquiry be cancelled for being without lawful authority and politically motivated.

The police said the commissioner of Hazara division had convened a meeting in his office today (Friday) to discuss tensions in the Ayub Medical Teaching Institution, Abbottabad.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2018