KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Tuesday directed the federal and provincial authorities to file comments on a petition challenging handing of administrative control of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) and National Institute of Child Health (NICH) to the Sindh government by the federal government.

The SHC also asked the ministry of national health services, Sindh chief secretary and management of both the health facilities to submit their replies on an application filed against certain appointments in the two health facilities by Nov 7.

It ruled that the appointments in question would be subject to the outcome of the petition.

Around 30 employees, mostly doctors, of the JPMC and NICH had filed a petition before the SHC in September against the federal government’s decision to hand over the administrative control of the two hospitals to the Sindh government.

Their counsel Malik Naeem Iqbal filed an application for urgent hearing of the petition. He also submitted another application and stated that instead of filing comments on the main petition, the Sindh government was making appointments on a contractual basis in contravention of the law and court orders.

Petitioners ask SHC to declare federal govt notifications, handing administrative control of health facilities to province, illegal

He further submitted that such appointments were being made in violation of the judgements of the superior judiciary and pleaded for a restraining order.

However, a two-judge bench, headed by Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, put the respondents on notice for Nov 7 with a direction to file comments on the main petition as well as the application against planned appointments.

The bench in its order stated, “Let notice of listed application be issued for 07.11.2023, when reply to listed application along with comments to petition shall be filed positively with advance copy to learned counsel for petitioners.”

“Since request of petitioners for restraining the respondents from making further appointments has already been declined on Sept 21, wherein it has however been observed that any such appointment made therein shall be subject to outcome of the petition,” it added.

“Therefore, till next date, no final adverse order or action to the disadvantage of petitioners in violation of the aforesaid judgement shall be made or taken,” the order concluded.

The petitioners had submitted that they were employed at the JMPC and NICH and they were affected by an agreement and notification dated Aug 8, 2023 between the ministry of national health services and the Sindh government.

They maintained that the federal government, through the operating and management agreement, had authorised the management, operational control and all financial liabilities/claims of three hospitals — the JMPC, the NICH and National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases — to the health department government of Sindh for 25 years.

The petitioners also submitted that initially, the JPMC and the NICH along with staff were transferred to the province of Sindh purportedly in pursuance of 18th Amendment and such devolution gave rise to litigation which ultimately culminated in a judgement handed down by a full bench of the SHC on July 4, 2016 that ruled that both the hospitals were federal institutes within the scope of Entry 16, Part-I of the Federal Legislative List; thus in the exclusive federal domain and remained so notwithstanding 18th Amendment.

They argued that the Sindh government had challenged the judgement of SHC before the Supreme Court and the apex court had also upheld the high court’s verdict in January 2019 and directed both the federal and provincial governments to restore the status of the two hospitals to the position they were prior to purported devolution.

Thereafter, the Sindh government had filed a review petition before the apex court, which is still pending adjudication and there is no injunctive order operating against the judgement, they maintained.

The petitioners also contended that the respondents had failed to implement the judgement as both hospitals were never returned to the federation and being run by the Sindh government since July 2011.

They submitted that the impugned agreement and notification were also made and issued in violation of the judgments of superior and higher judiciary and pleaded to declare them illegal and unconstitutional.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2023