Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Monday adjourned the hearing of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) case.

The PMDC’s counsel requested the court for more time to prepare arguments over the legal status of the current body. Justice Aamir Farauk of IHC will now hear the case on April 20. Earlier, a bench, comprising of Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiani, had declared the current council of PMDC illegal.

The petitioner Masood Hameed in his plea had stated that he was elected as president of the council for period of four years under the PMDC Act 2012. The current body of the PMDC was elected under the PMDC Ordinance 2015, which lapsed on April 25, 2016.

Hameed stated that after the ordinance lapsed, the body elected under this law should also be declared illegal. “The PMDC body that was elected under PMDC Act 2012 should be activated according to law,” he said.

It seems the PMDC legal section is deliberately using delaying tactics to avoid court proceedings, said an official of PMDC requesting anonymity. “This is the seventh time the PMDC counsel has sought more time from the court for preparation of arguments,” the official said.

The PMDC Ordinance 2015 was promulgated on August 28, 2015 and later re-promulgated in the same year following a resolution of the National Assembly. The ordinance could not get approval from Parliament after the Senate rejected it. The Senate adopted the stance that after the 18th Amendment in Constitution, the issue must first be discussed in Council of Common Interests (CCI).

Talking to Daily Times, counsel for the petitioner, Shahbaz Khan Khosa, said that the PMDC’s current body was using delaying tactics. “That is why they are not completing their arguments,” he said.

When contacted, In-charge Legal Section of PMDC Sara Arbab Nasir said the department was not delaying the case. “We have only sought more time twice as our counsel is busy in the apex court,” she said.

She denied using delaying tactics and said the old body of PMDC, headed by Masood Hameed, could never be restored legally.

A year has passed since the ordinance lapsed. However, the government had has taken no decision so for regarding the council’s new elections.