APPOINTMENT SCANDAL: How Rules Were Allegedly Flouted to Secure the Top Slot at Islamabad’s Largest Hospital Pims

​By Investigative Reporter
ISLAMABAD : A major administrative scandal has surfaced at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Islamabad’s premier government healthcare facility, involving allegations of systemic forgery, manipulation of seniority, and the violation of constitutional mandates to secure the appointment of the Executive Director (ED).
​Documents and internal reports from 2023 to 2025 suggest a coordinated effort within the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (MoNHSRC) to bypass merit and install an ineligible candidate in a BS-21 post that falls under the direct authority of the Prime Minister.
​The “Look After” Loophole
​The controversy began on April 18, 2023, when Professor Rana Imran Sikandar, a clinician in Anesthesia, was given “Look After Charge” of the ED office. According to Establishment Division regulations from 2021, such a charge is intended only for day-to-day affairs and holds no permanent legal status.
​However, sources reveal that this temporary arrangement was stretched for over 1.5 years. During this period, a controversial committee allegedly created an “unconstitutional combined seniority list,” merging clinical and administrative cadres—a move that directly contradicts 2010 FPSC guidelines and 2016 Supreme Court rulings.
​Allegations of Forgery and Tampering
​The most damning allegations involve the Central Selection Board (CSB) proceedings. Despite the CSB minutes from July 2023 stating that no candidate in the panel was eligible, the process continued.
​Whistleblowers and court filings suggest that the working papers for the CSB were prepared by the “Look After” ED himself, representing a massive conflict of interest. The allegations include:
​Misrepresentation of Service: The sole eligible administrative cadre officer, Dr. Iqbal Durrani, allegedly had his 22-year service record misrepresented and his seniority suppressed.
​Fabricated Experience: Clinical officers, including the eventual appointee, reportedly lacked the mandatory two years of hospital administration experience. It is alleged that records were altered to equate “Head of Department” roles with administrative experience.
​Academic Ineligibility: Records show Professor Sikandar completed his MPH on June 16, 2023. Under service rules, a two-year post-qualification experience period is mandatory, a requirement that would not have been met until mid-2025.
​Judicial Defiance
​The Federal Service Tribunal (FST), in a decision dated October 30, 2024, ruled that it is mandatory to send “strictly eligible officers” for promotion boards. Despite this, and subsequent Supreme Court orders to correct the papers of overlooked candidates, the ministry allegedly proceeded with defective papers to notify Professor Sikandar as the permanent ED in 2025.
​In a move seen as a “confession” of the previous illegality, an attempt was made on August 29, 2024, to formally amend the service rules to equate clinical HOD roles with administrative experience. The Ministry of Health reportedly declined to proceed with the amendment, further highlighting that the experience previously claimed was fabricated.
​Institutional Decay
​The fallout of this administrative maneuvering has been felt on the hospital floor. Healthcare analysts warn that by placing a clinician in a high-level administrative role through irregular means, the institution has suffered a “double loss.”
​”If you appoint a clinician to an administrative post, you not only produce a bad administrator, but you also lose a very good clinician,” said a senior official at PIMS who requested anonymity.
​Demands for Accountability
​Civil society members and hospital staff are now calling for an independent, high-level inquiry into the CSB working papers and the role of the Ministry of Health. The demand is clear: a thorough investigation into the alleged forgery and the restoration of the “Right Person for the Right Place” principle to safeguard public health services in the capital.