PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) was moved on Wednesday against the recruitment process for doctors, dental surgeons and nursing staff in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the petitioner sought the court intervention to declare the appointments unlawful.
Dr Haider Ali, president of Malgari Doktaran, filed the petition through advocate Babar Khan Yousafzai, making the secretary Health, the Director General of Health Services, chairman of the Departmental Selection Committee, the scrutiny committees and other relevant officials as respondents.
According to the petition, the Health Department initiated recruitment for medical officers, dental surgeons and nurses on fixed-pay contracts through a public advertisement. However, complaints subsequently emerged regarding alleged irregularities, lack of transparency and the denial of candidates’ rights during the selection process.
The petitioner argued that the Health Department, through a notification issued in February 2026, appointed additional divisional commissioners as chairpersons of scrutiny committees and divisional commissioners as heads of departmental selection committees.
The petition contended that these appointments were inconsistent with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Department Contract Appointment of Doctors Rules, 2022, and the 2025 amendments, which required selection committees to function under the administrative control of district health officers, while medical superintendents of district headquarters hospitals were designated to chair departmental selection committees.
The petitioner pleaded that the Health Department issued another notification on March 3, 2026, laying down a revised procedure for the recruitment of medical officers, dental surgeons and other fixed-pay employees.
Babar Yousafzai argued that such positions were previously filled through the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Service Commission, but the procedure was altered without ensuring a uniform and transparent selection mechanism across the province.
According to the petition, different divisions allegedly adopted varying criteria for awarding marks during scrutiny and evaluation, resulting in inconsistencies in the selection process. It further alleged that complete merit lists were not published before the issuance of appointment letters and that only partial lists were made available after candidates raised objections and complaints.
The petitioner’s lawyer also claimed that in divisions, including Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan, the marking process allegedly violated prescribed criteria and was marred by irregularities. It was further alleged that some candidates were not awarded additional marks for higher academic qualifications.
The petition maintained that quotas reserved for women, persons with disabilities and minority communities were not properly implemented. It also alleged that authorities failed to formulate and apply a clear zoning policy despite conducting recruitment at the divisional level.
Additional allegations include irregularities in the allocation of marks, assessment of qualifications, interviews and even alleged alterations to official records during the recruitment process.
The petitioner contended that executive authorities did not possess the power to amend or override statutory rules and argued that the absence of a transparent scrutiny mechanism and the involvement of individuals not authorised under the relevant laws rendered the recruitment process unlawful.
The petitioner prayed the court to strike down the notifications issued on February 9 and February 26, invalidate the constitution of the committees formed under those notifications and order action against those responsible.
Directions also sought to ensure that all future recruitments in the Health Department were conducted transparently and strictly in accordance with the law and public interest.The petitioner has also prayed the court to restrain the authorities from issuing appointment letters to selected candidates until the final verdict of the case.
