PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court has directed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to frame within four months positively relevant rules and devise proper mechanism for appointments against posts of secretary of provincial quality control board (PQCB) and KP Pharmacy Council (KPPC).

A two-member bench consisting of Justice Musarrat Hilali and Justice Mohammad Ibrahim Khan ordered that till framing of rules, the incumbent, Mohammad Ibrahim, should continue to function as secretary of both PQCB and KPPC.

The bench issued the directives while disposing of a petition filed by chief drug inspector, Syed Welayat Shah, who had challenged the functioning of the respondent, Mohammad Ibrahim, against the said two posts.

The petitioner requested the court to declare the appointment of Mohammad Ibrahim as secretary of PQCB and KPPC by the health department as illegal and unconstitutional.

Disposes of petition against incumbent secretary of the two bodies

He also requested the court to issue directives for filling the said two posts as per the Drug Act, 1976, and the Pharmacy Act, 1967.

The bench observed that under section 11 (3) of Drug Act, the provincial government had the power to appoint a person to be secretary of the PQCB, however, there was nothing in it about the qualification/method of appointment against the subject post as to whether it should be a person with pharmacy qualification or a provincial management services officer of the scheduled post.

Therefore, the bench observed that it was the responsibility of the government to finalise the service rules in respect of the position as only the government would be in a position to frame public services oriented policies as per job description of the secretary of PQCB.

The petitioner’s counsel Noor Mohammad Khattak stated that after the retirement of the chief drug inspector, Ali Zahir Shah, who was working as secretary of PQCB in the year 2014, Mohammad Ibrahim was assigned the charge of the office of secretary PQCB, who at that time was a section officer (drugs) in BPS-17 and continued as such till date.

He stated that so far the functions described in the Drug Act were performed on stop-gap arrangement instead of prescribing services rules for the post of secretary of PQCB and induction had not been made on regular basis like the other provinces.

He referred to a judgment of the Supreme Court wherein it was given that the provincial government meant the cabinet and contended that contrary to that mandatory legal requirement as per the judgment of the apex court, the incumbent secretary of PQCB was allowed to work on the said post without soliciting approval of the government since 2014 and as such that arrangement of the health department was illegal.

The respondents in the petition were KP government through its chief secretary, secretaries of establishment and health departments and the secretary of PQCB.

Published in Dawn, July 5th, 2022