LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has struck down the devolution of the Shaikh Zayed Postgraduate Medical Institute (SZPMI) to the Punjab government and discarded the appointments including that of chairman of the institution.

Justice Farrukh Irfan Khan announced a judgment reserved on multiple petitions filed by the All-Pakistan Paramedical Staff Federation (SZPMI) and others challenging a 2012 order issued by the cabinet division on the direction of the then prime minister transferring the administrative control of the institute along with its components, assets, liabilities, staff etc from the federal government to the provincial set-up of Punjab.

The counsel for the petitioners argued that the SZPMI was established by the federal government and its management/control was run by the Board of Governors under a resolution on May 29, 1986.

Appointments after devolution will be cancelled

They said under the garb of 18th constitutional amendment, the institute was transferred to the Punjab government through a notification issued on Feb 14, 2012. At that time, they said, it was under the administrative control of the cabinet division and not under the Federal Ministry of Health and as such could not be devolved.

The counsel further contended that the institute on account of its autonomous status, unique and special character did not fall under the domain of the 18th amendment. It was not established under any Trust as there was no mention of any Trust in the entire resolution under which the institute was established.

The provincial government’s counsel, on the other hand, argued that the institute/hospital was established under a Trust formed on Nov 6, 1973. He said the Trust was not only meant for the establishment of hospital or medical colleges in Punjab but it was also for other provinces of the country.

The government’s lawyer said although the SZPMI was established as an autonomous institute, the funds were provided by the Trust. He said the then prime minister transferred the administrative control of the institute to the government of Punjab. The law officer also defended the appointments made by the province after the devolution. He alleged that the petitioners wanted to undo the workings of the board of governors and to stop it from performing administrative functions for their personal gains.

However, in his judgement, Justice Khan observed that the government failed to show any nexus of the Trust with the SZPMI or to show that the Trust was instrumental in any activity involved in the creation of the institute in question.

The judge ruled that the impugned notification of 2012 issued by the prime minister did not carry legal sanction behind it and as such it was liable to be struck down on the constitutional plane.

The judge ordered that “the SZPMI shall stand restored to the federal government in position where it was before the impugned devolution within a period of six months.” The judge also declared illegal all the appointments including the chairman of the institute made by the provincial government after the purported devolution.

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2017