ISLAMABAD, Nov 2: The Supreme Court on Friday sought a report from secretaries of the Establishment Division and Ministry of Capital Administration and Development (CAD) over appointment of Prof Riaz Warraich as the Pims executive director.

The application against the appointment was moved by Young Doctors Association (YDA) and the joint action committee of Pims.

The letter sent by the SC human rights cell to the two secretaries stated: “In pursuance of the order of the chief justice of Pakistan, you are required to submit a report to the court before Nov 15.”

It is pertinent to mention that Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has appointed Prof Warraich as the new executive director of Pims. He took over the charge on October 17.

Earlier, he worked as head of the oral and maxillofacial surgery at King Edward Medical University and Mayo Hospital, Lahore.

He is the sixth executive director of Pims in the last three years.

Talking to Dawn, Prof Warraich added: “The matter is already sub judice as a similar petition is filed by someone over my posting with the Islamabad High Court.”

In his petition to the IHC in September, Fazal Hussain had requested the court that posting of Prof Warraich should be stopped and a direction issued to the authorities concerned.

Commenting over the apex court’s move, Prof Warraich said: “After learning from the media, I personally approached the legal officials concerned at the court and was informed that the registrar had sought an input over my posting from the ministry of CAD and the Establishment Division.”

Prof Warraich said there was no major issue related to his posting since everything had been settled and there were no disputes pending at any level, including the YDA or the paramedical staff of the hospital.

An Establishment Division official insisted that Prof Warraich had been hired on merit.

“The prime minister can bring in on deputation any official from the provincial services or even from the federal government as per Establishment Division rules,” the official said.

When Dawn approached the YDA Islamabad president Asfandyar Khan, he expressed ignorance about the matter and said: “It’s an old application, and I guess YDA might have sent applications to different offices when the issue relating to the posting of the Pims executive director had surfaced.”

The YDA had demanded hiring of a senior physician from the hospital on the post, claiming that bringing an outsider would deprive the hospital physicians of their right to get the lucrative position.—Imran Ali Teepu