PMDC. Photo: File

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court dissolved on Friday the governing council of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), which regulates medical educational institutes across the country. 

Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, while heading the three-member bench hearing a case regarding the council's functioning, also ordered the formation of an interim committee headed by former Supreme Court Justice Shakirullah Jan. 

The committee will hold fresh elections of the council and run its affairs until the new council takes charge. 

Medical colleges' representatives of four provinces, Islamabad and the attorney general will be part of the committee, the court ruled. 

Talking to the media after the hearing, Sardar Latif Khosa, the council of former PMDC president Dr Masood Hameed Khan, said this is a historic decision. He criticised the government for operating PMDC despite the expiry of the related ordinance.

Hearing the case on Thursday, the chief justice had observed that they will not allow the PMDC to function if it is operating illegally. 

The court was hearing the PMDC's appeal against a Lahore High Court decision of December last year ordering the dissolution of the PMDC council. 

The Supreme Court had regretted that the government failed to introduce a new law after the PMDC (Amendment) Ordinance 2015 lapsed in April of 2016 and the matter went to the high court.