At Inflated Rates: PTI petition disposed by LHC

LAHORE: Justice Shams Mahmood Mirza on Wednesday disposed of a petition by opposition leader Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed against alleged irregularities in the procurement of medicines at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC). Justice Mirza disposed of the petition after directing Rasheed to raise the issue at the relevant forum. The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader had said that suppliers were explicitly flouting terms of contract by providing medicines to the facility at exorbitant rates. He had said that the management of the PIC pharmacy had been misappropriating public money with the connivance of public functionaries. Rasheed had requested Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to conduct an inquiry to expose the alleged irregularities. He had also asked for the terms of contract to be presented before the public accounts committee.  An assistant advocate general had told the court that it was not maintainable as Rasheed was not an aggrieved person as such.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 11^th, 2016.