Eligibility of PMDC's inquiry-committee Chairman challenged in court

Rules state that the chairman must be a retired judge, whereas the current Chairman is an “ousted PCO Judge” LAHORE: The Federal Government had constituted an inquiry commission of the PMDC, Chaired by Justice Retd Shabbir Raza Rizvi, on January 24, to evaluate the affiliation of 19 medical colleges. Hashmat Medical College, Gujrat's Chairman – Chaudhry Muhammad Arif has recently filed a petition in the Lahore High Court to challenge the appointment of Justice Rizvi, claiming that the law specifies that the committee chairman must be a “Retired Judge”of Lahore High Court, whereas, Justice Rizvi was “Ousted” for being a PCO Judge. Justice Rizvi was dismissed after taking oath under the “Provisional Constitutional Order” by General (r) Pervaiz Musharraf, therefore he cannot be termed as a retired Judge. Moreover, since the Lahore high court is still hearing the case of PMDC representatives, there cannot be any new appointment made on the seat of the Chairman Inquiry Committee. On these grounds, the petitioner has requested the court to declare the notification for the formation of the inquiry commission as illegal and Justice (r) Rizvi’s appointment as unconstitutional. The court was also requested to direct the authorities, not to take coercive action against the college, while the petition was still pending.