PESHAWAR, Sept 12: The Peshawar High Court on Thursday dismissed a joint petition of the acting chief executives of three major Khyber Pakhtunkhwa public sector hospitals against their possible removal by the government.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan and Justice Musarrat Hilali ruled that the provincial government was justified to evolve a policy for running the affairs of health institutions.

While dismissing the petition, it also vacated a stay order issued last month asking the provincial government to remove the petitioners.

The petition was filed by acting chief executives of Khyber Teaching Hospital, Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar and Ayub Teaching Hospital Abbottabad.

A section of the media recently reported that the provincial health department had approved summary for replacing these chief executives with others health professionals, who would also be given the acting charge of the office.

The petitioners, including Dr Umar Ayub, contended that the provincial government had no authority to replace them and that, too, with the acting chief executives.

They claimed that the previous government had moved a summary for giving them permanent status as under the law, a permanent chief executive had to be appointed for a period of three years.

The chief justice observed that the new government in the province had been formulating own policy for the health institutions and it could do so under the law.

He said currently, the petitioners were not aggrieved persons.

Another writ petition on the same issue filed by provincial president of Pakistan Medical Association, Dr Hussain Ahmad Haroon, was withdrawn as his counsel Mian Muhibullah Kakakhel contended that as the chief executives had personally filed writ petition, therefore, there was no need of this petition and it had become infructuous.

On the petition of Dr Haroon the PHC had on Aug 5 stayed the appointment of chief executives of the public sector teaching hospitals.

The court had directed the government to suspend the appointment process, which was at that time in the final stages. He had also challenged an advertisement of the provincial government published on April 24, 2013, through which applications were invited for the posts of chief executives of four teaching hospitals, Khyber Teaching Hospital, Lady Reading Hospital and Hayatabad Medical Complex of Peshawar and Ayub Teaching Hospital of Abbottabad.

The four hospitals are administered by acting chief executives who have already been working on other posts.

Meanwhile, the bench stayed the transfer of the director general of Peshawar Development Authority by the provincial chief secretary and directed the secretary to re-post him with in 24 hours.

The court also sought comments from the chief secretary.The petitioner, Sareer Muhammad Khan, was promoted on Sep 4 to BS-20 and transferred and posted as the director general of PDA so as to comply with an earlier order of the high court. However, with in few hours another order was issued by the chief secretary through which he was transferred and posted as project director of Mansehra Development authority. As the said post was of BS-19, therefore, the government also ordered to upgrade the post to BS-20.

Advocate Ghulam Mohiuddin Malik appeared for the petitioner and contended that the authorities had made mockery of the law and had been trying to hoodwink the court.

He said a few months ago, the court had ordered the promotion and re-appointment of the petitioner as DG of PDA, but the previous government did not implement the order following which a contempt of court petition was filed.

The counsel pointed out that the government had replaced the petitioner with Saleem Khan, a junior officer in BS-19, who was stated to be a close relative of a senior military official.

He requested the court to suspend the transfer order.