ISLAMABAD: The recent appointment of Dr Mutahir Shah as the director of the Maternal and Child Health Centre (MCHC) and Burn Care Center (BCC) at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), and the subsequent withholding of the order, has exposed the fragile relation between Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU) VC Prof Dr Javed Akram and PIMS Administrator Dr Altaf.
Dr Altaf on Thursday issued a notification appointing Dr Mutahir as the director with an immediate effect; however, Dr Javed withheld the order till further notice.
The sources said the issue has brought the two heads to direct confrontation, as Javed wanted to maintain the status quo, while Altaf did not want his authority to be undermined.
“Dr Altaf has been struggling for the restoration of the old status of the PIMS by separating the hospital from the university, while Dr Javed Akram has been blamed for delaying the process until the end of his tenure,” the sources added.
The notification, a copy of which is available with Pakistan Today, reads, “With immediate and until further order Dr Mutahir Shah is hereby transferred from Director OPD-IH to Director, MCHC and BCC.”
The notification further reads, “All the correspondence of MCH and BCC will be routed through him to the undersigned. Dr Ijaz Qadeer will continue to serve as Director (NM) and Principal, CMT.”
The notification further mentioned that the order was issued following the approval of the vice chancellor.
However, after few hours, the same notification was issued with the VC Javed ‘s signature and commented that the said notification to be withheld till further orders.
When Pakistan Today contacted VC Javed, he said the notification was brought to him by Dr Tariq Iqbal, the head of the BCC, after which it was withheld and he directed for it to be put up in the file.
To a question whether it was issued with his permission, he, instead of refuting, responded that it might be written as a routine matter, adding that he could only comment on the matter if brought before him through a proper channel, and only then he would write complete merits and demerits of it.
Dr Altaf told Pakistan Today that Dr Mutahir Shah has been appointed as the director as it is an administrative post and only an administrative cadre person could work on it.
He said that the appointment was made in line with the directives of the Supreme Court (SC), as there is a clear order of the apex court that a clinical cadre man could not perform duty on an administrative position.
To a question that the SC order for appointment was only for PIMS not for any department, he stated that on any of the administrative post, the clinician cannot be posted.
He said that all this was done with the approval of the vice chancellor; however, it is an internal arraignment, not regular appointment.
To a question that the VC withheld his notification, he did with his prior approval and refused to comment further.
It is pertinent to mention here that on February 24, 2016, Dr Fazle Maula, the then PIMS administrator, had appointed Dr Mutahir Shah as director of the Burns Care Centre without removing the incumbent head of the facility Professor Dr Tariq Iqbal.
The doctors and staffers of the centre staged a demonstration and suspended the routine work of the hospital. As a result, Dr Fazle Maula had to issue another notification nullifying the appointment of Dr Mutahir Shah.
