PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa advocate general and counsel appearing for medical teaching institutions requested a larger bench of the Peshawar High Court to dismiss petitions against the Medical Teaching Institutions Reforms Act, 2015, saying the law was in accordance with the Constitution and was vital for overhauling the deteriorating health system.

They argued that the law was an improvement in the earlier law and would end the interference of government in the medical teaching institutions (MTI) and had ensured complete autonomy for these institutions.

Advocate general Abdul Lateef Yousafzai, and counsel of MTIs Syed Arshad Ali and Isaac Ali Qazi advanced lengthy arguments before the five-member bench headed by the Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel, which will resume hearing in these cases on Dec 7 (Monday).

Prominent among the petitioners are: Teachers Association of Khyber Medical College, Pakistan medical association through its provincial president Dr Hussain Ahmad Haroon, and some paramedics and nursing staffers.

Govt lawyers insist law in line with Constitution, vital for overhauling health system

The lead counsel of MTIs, Syed Arshid Ali, put forward detailed comparison between the Medical and Health Institutions and Regulation of Health Care Service Ordinance, 2002, and the new law MTIR Act, 2015, for countering the arguments of the petitioners that the new Act was an attack on the autonomy of the MTIs.

He argued that through the new law full autonomy had now been extended to MTIs with no role left for the provincial government to run their day-to-day affairs.

He stated that under the erstwhile ordinance of 2002 two categories of institutions were created- health Regulatory Authority (HRA) and medical institutions (MI). He added that the government was empowered to appoint a chief executive of the MI, who also served as chairperson of the Management Council, empowered to manage affairs of the hospital.

“The provincial government has now done away with the post of the chief executive of MTI as well as the management council and replaced it with the board of governors, which is an autonomous body,” Arshad Ali said.

He added that initially the board was having not more than 10 members including three from government sector and seven from private sector, but after an amendment now the board only comprised of not more than seven members all of whom should be from private sector.

He added that all the members should be eminent personalities from different fields.

The counsel stated that under the previous law there were two sets of employees, those who opted to be absorbed in the institution and those who wanted to remain as civil servant and not opted for absorption. Under the present law, he added same option was offered to the employees of MTIs and nobody would be forced to opt for absorption in MTI.

Advocate General Lateef Yousafzai argued that the Act was not in conflict with any of the fundamental rights guaranteed in the Constitution of Pakistan and thus the high court could not exercise its powers of judicial review of the law. He argued that the provincial legislature was fully competent to enact this law as health was a provincial subject. He added that unless the law was enacted the provincial government could not fulfill its commitment of providing better health care facilities to the general public.

Isaac Ali Qazi also argued that the MTIR Act was not in conflict with the Civil Servants Act, 1973, as the rights of those employees who opted to remain civil servants had been protected in it.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2015