ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has recently declared all Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) members' appointments illegal and ordered to immediately remove them from the posts.
PMC members, including President Dr Arshad Taqi and Vice President Ali Raza, deployment has been declared illegal. All their orders have had no legal effect from inception. The court instructed the government to notify officers of the relevant ministry to run the day to day functions of the PMC until the appointments of the new members.
However, the court declared the policy of golden handshake for employees and the PMC Act lawful. It stated that the sacked employees could raise their reservations individually before the new body against the golden shake hand.
Justice Mohsin Akhter Kayani announced its verdict, which was reserved on the petitions filed by PMC employees challenging the appointment of PMC members and the golden handshake policy. 'The court order said that the pension's money couldn't be recovered from the employees who had already received it while those who had not received it were not eligible for it.
All acts, orders, and decisions passed or accepted by the members after the 25.09.2020 notification are also declared illegal, according to the court's decision. In accordance with sub-section (1) of Section 4 of the PMC Act, 2020, the Federal Government is directed to begin the process of appointing members in a transparent way. It concluded that the case of contractual employees seeking regularisation after their contract's termination or expiration is a closed and past transaction.
