KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Friday put the chairman of the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC) on notice asking him to submit a report regarding the current status of appointments of doctors to be made against vacant posts in public hospitals.

While hearing a petition about the pathetic condition of government hospitals at district level in Sindh, a two-judge SHC bench headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar also directed a health official to come up with a progress report on April 3.

When the matter came up for hearing on Friday, a deputy secretary of the Sindh health department informed the bench that the requisition for appointments of 1,783 doctors on general seats and 457 for specialised doctors had been sent to the SPSC, but the commission had yet to send any recommendation as far as the general seats were concerned.

He further said that a few recommendations were received for the special cadre from the SPSC on which appointments were made.

The bench observed that in its order dated June 1, 2018 it had asked to expedite the process of appointments of doctors and complete it in four months.

Petitioner Advocate Shahab Usto also informed the bench that its directives had not been complied with.

The bench issued a notice to the SPSC chairman directing him to submit a progress report through their focal person on the next hearing about the current status of the process of sending recommendations for appointments of doctors.

Advocate Usto had filed a petition in 2015 and sought a probe into the high number of deaths of the victims of a bomb blast at an Imambargah in Shikarpur allegedly due to non-provision of timely medical assistance.

He had also sought directions for the provincial authorities for ensuring availability of specialised doctors, paramedical staff and treatment facilities in the public hospitals of each district of Sindh.

Ex-minister’s bail extended

Another two-judge SHC bench on Friday directed the director general of the Karachi Development Authority to appear in court on March 14 along with relevant record in a matter pertaining to corruption inquiries against former Sindh local government minister Jam Khan Shoro.

The former minister had moved the SHC around four months ago for pre-arrest bail after the National Accountability Bureau issued a warrant for his arrest in corruption inquiries that included an alleged illegal allotment during his tenure as the LG minister.

The SHC had granted him interim bail.

Extending the interim bail till March 14, the bench headed by Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M. Shaikh directed the KDA chief to come up along with the record of the allotment on the next hearing.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2019