ISLAMABAD, (TLTP): A contempt of court petition was filed before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday against officers of federal health ministry and ICT administration for allegedly disobeying the court directives in the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PMDC) case.
Registrar of the PMDC Brigadier (retired) Hafizuddin Siddiqui claimed that officers of federal health ministry and ICT administration have found guilty of disobeying court directives on April 01 as they stopped him from entering the Council premises.
Counsels for the petitioner Barrister Zafarullah and Advocate Umer Sajjad Chaven filed the contempt petition making Tanvir Ahmad Qureshi, Federal Secretary Ministry of Health Services Regulations and Coordination, Saeedullah Khan Niazi, Joint Secretary, Ali Raza Section officer, Hamza Shafqat, Deputy Commissioner ICT administration, Ali Javed, Magistrate ICT, and Khurshid, SHO Police Station Ramna Islamabad, as respondents.
- “An act of defying court orders is like teetering trichotomy of power in a system which recently surfaced, says advocate Umer Sajjad Chaven
They submitted that after declaring a presidential ordinance ultra vires to Constitution that left PMDC dissolved and paved way for establishment of Pakistan Medical Commission, the Islamabad High Court on February 11, 2020 restored the Council and services of its employees but ministry issued direction for sealing the offices of the PMDC on February 13 as a result the reinstated employees were not allowed to enter the offices.
The petitioners through Advocate Umer Sajjad Chaven invoked the IHC jurisdiction for a remedy to which a single-member bench of Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani issued directives to the health ministry to ensure implementation of the court orders in the matter on March 30.
Again the petitioners have filed contempt plea on Friday with a claim that all the respondents including federal health secretary and ICT administration didn’t allow them to enter the PMDC office.
PMDC Registrar submitted that on April 1,2020, he went to the Council building along with his essential minimum staff where federal health secretary and other two respondents of the ministry deputed unauthorized persons with the help of respondents including deputy commissioner, magistrate ICT and SHO concerned.
He informed that all the respondents refused entry to the petitioner whereas the whole episode was witnessed by the media and doctors, adding the petitioner being the PMDC Registrar has been running from pillar to post carrying orders of the IHC to seek its compliance but the respondents are in collusion with each other and are bent upon contempt of orders of this IHC.
Registrar of the PMDC prayed the IHC to award six months jail in addition to attaching their salary over committing disobedience and contempt of the court.
