LAHORE, May 9: The Pakistan Medical Association, Punjab, demanded issuance of a show cause notice under the Removal from Service Ordinance, 2000, on the Health Department secretary in view of his conviction by the Lahore High Court.

PMA, Punjab, president Dr Dil Muhammad Mirza said the bureaucracy was using the ‘black’ law to silence dissent. “The ordinance was promulgated to oust corrupt government employees and not to silence dissent,” he said.

Dr Mirza said the department had now issued formal inquiry orders against PMA’s central president Prof Yasmin Rashid, Punjab PMA’s general secretary Dr Ashraf Nizami, Lahore PMA’s general secretary Dr Azeemuddin Zahid, Senior Doctors Association’s Punjab convener Dr Zulfiqar Beg and Dr Abdul Majid for speaking against some ‘unimplementable’ policies.

Dr Mirza demanded that the governor should order immediate withdrawal of the notices to end ‘engineered inquiries.’

Meanwhile, the SDA coordination committee denied a role in the strike called by the PMA on April 8 and its convenor, Dr Beg, expressed his surprise over the show-cause notice served on him. He said he had remained on duty at physiology department of Allama Iqbal Medical College on the day. The meeting asked the Punjab governor and health minister to stop disciplinary proceedings against Dr Beg.