The Supreme Court of Pakistan has set up a nine-member adhoc council to run the affairs of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC).

In its short order read out by Justice Ijazul Ahsan on Friday, the apex court appointed Justice (retd) Ijaz Afzal Khan as the head of the adhoc council.

The detailed judgement of the Supreme Court will be released later. The apex court also disposed of the contempt of court petition being heard by the Islamabad High Court.

The members of the PMDC ad hoc council will be Attorney General of Pakistan, Surgeon General of Pakistan, vice-chancellors of National University of Medical Sciences, University of Health Sciences, Sindh Jinnah Medical University, Khyber Medical University, Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Medical University, Bolan Medical University Quetta and Principal of De’Montmorency College of Dentistry Lahore.

On Wednesday last, the Supreme Court had stopped PMDC Registrar Hafeez-ud-Din from working and observed that he could not enter the office premises.

The orders came as the apex court was hearing an application filed by the federal government.

The court observed that the ordinance under which the registrar was appointed had ceased to exist and that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) did not have the authority to restore him to his office.

As a three-member Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed said the Council will make the new appointment, Hafeez argued that the body was incomplete because the office of the PMDC president was vacant.

However, the Supreme Court reserved its judgment on the issue of how to make the decision about the new appointment.

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During the hearing, Attorney General Khalid Jawed said the registrar had entered the PMDC building after breaking the locks. He added that the court enjoyed the right to appoint any retired judge as the PMDC president. It could reappoint Justice (retd) Shakirullah Jan or opt for any other retired judge, said the attorney general.

The Council would be functional again after the appointment of its president, he argued.

Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan then remarked that IHC could not pass such orders on a contempt of court plea, while the chief justice said the PMDC had the powers to decide about the registrar and other employees.

The chief justice also observed that the process of registering thousands of doctors had stopped due to the affairs at the PMDC.