The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday morning ordered the government to restore the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) within an hour and ordered to arrest the health secretary for not appearing before the court and sentenced him to six months in jail.

Hearing a petition seeking contempt of court proceedings over not restoring the PMDC despite the court orders, Justice Mohsin Hassan Akhtar Kiyani passed the directives as he expressed his annoyance over the health secretary’s absence from court.

Ordering the police to arrest and present him before the court immediately, the judge observed that the government was involved in court contempt, describing its working as devastating during the time of an emergency.

Justice Kiyani said “Tell the health secretary to undergo corona test if he wants as I am going to send him to jail today.”

The IHC judge observed that the prime minister and the health secretary should be ashamed of themselves. He warned that he would take the decision to a level that no one would able to bear it.

During the proceedings, he also expressed his anger over non-payment of salaries to the PMDC employees for the last five months. “Don’t worry these prisons are made for the salaries,” he added.

The judge ordered the authorities to break the locks at PMDC and let the Registrar sit in the office.

The court also ordered the Health Ministry to stop the registration of new doctors.

Later in the day, Additional Attorney General informed the court that the federal government has agreed to restore the PMDC and deseal its offices and let the Registrar sit in it.