ISLAMABAD: The medical tribunal, one of the most important forums to hear complaints in the medical sector, has been completed as the Ministry of Law and Justice on Monday notified its two technical members.
According to the notification available withDawn, former Executive Director Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) Dr Minhajus Siraj and former Director General Health Punjab Dr Mohammad Amjad have been appointed as the members technical (MP-II). Their three-year tenure will start from the date they assume charge of their posts.
The Medical Tribunal Act 2020 has no provision for appointing a temporary or acting chairman. It was an ordinance in 2020 and enacted in 2022 as an Act of parliament.
A senior official of the health ministry, wishing not to be quoted, said the tribunal became dysfunctional on January 3, 2024 when the tenure of retired Justice Qalandar Ali Khan completed.
“Former judge of Peshawar High Court, Justice Qalandar was the first chairman of the medical tribunal under the Medical Tribunal Act 2020. He was appointed for a period of three years by the prime minister in consultation with the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP),” he said.
“Unfortunately, Medical Tribunal Act does not allow acting chairman or even letting the chairman continue working till the appointment of a new chairman. The ministry tried and even appointed Lahore High Court’s former judge Justice Shoaib Saeed as the acting chairman for three months but he did not assume the charge,” the official said.
Later, he added, an attempt was made to appoint retired Justice Ghulam Azam Qambrani, who is also member/judge of the tribunal, as an acting chairman but he also refused because the appointment could be in violation of the Act.
“However, in August last year, retired judge of the LHC Mian Safdar Saleem was appointed as chairman of the tribunal,” he said.
Replying to a question, the official said in the tribunal majority of the complaints were filed by students who get admissions in medical and dental colleges and later face different issues.
When asked about the process of appointment, he said it was a lengthy process and the notification of the appointment was finally issued by the law ministry.
“Starting with two benches at Islamabad and Lahore, each bench will comprise a member from the senior judiciary and the second member will be a technical expert,” he explained.
Published in Dawn, November 18th, 2025