KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has restrained the federal government from taking any coercive action against two senior doctors and associate professors of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) on the basis of show-cause notices threatening dismissal from service.

The two JPMC doctors, Dr Iram Bokhari and Dr Nazish Butt, petitioned the SHC and submitted that they were associate professors at the JPMC and an inquiry was conducted against them on allegations of harassment of newly-appointed faculty of the hospital and frequent litigation against the Sindh government.

Citing the federation of Pakistan through the National Health Services Secretary and inquiry officer Dr Shaista Habibullah as respondents, they submitted that minor penalty of withholding an increment was imposed on the petitioners in the inquiry report and now, show-cause notices had also been issued to them for imposition of major penalty of dismissal from service.

Their lawyer Malik Naeem Iqbal argued that allegations were not sustainable as it was the right of petitioners to move courts for justice against a wrong committed against them by their superiors.

He also submitted that the petitioners were ready to file a reply of the show-cause notices, but since the major penalty had been proposed against them they needed protection.

A two-judge bench headed by Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro issued notices to respondents as well as additional attorney general for Aug 25, and also restrained respondents from taking any coercive action against the petitioners in terms of impugned show-cause notices.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2025