Illegal kidney transplants: Rich doctors on bail in violation of judicial policy

Dying man on dialysis, doctors’ accomplices denied bail.

LAHORE:

Two rich and well-connected doctors accused of running an illegal kidney transplant ring have been on ‘interim’ bail for the last four-and-a-half months, in violation of judicial policy.

Meanwhile their co-accused – attendants, errand boys and a dying Somali-Dutch man – have been held in custody ever since the police burst into a house in Al Faisal Town to find a prospective kidney donor being prepped for illegal transplant surgery on July 2, 2011.

That same day, North Cantt police registered a case against 11 people including Dr Sanaullah, a surgeon at General Hospital; Dr Imran, an anaesthetist; Dr Anees; and Dr Mubashir, under sections of the Pakistan Penal Code as well as the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissue Act (THOTA).

The complainant, Muhammad Riaz from Kasur, told the police that he had sold his kidney because he desperately needed money, but realised at the last minute that it was a mistake.

Three more people – Abid Ali Khokhar and Muhammad Sharif from Kasur and Liaqat Ali from Gujranwala – later came forward to register cases against the same four doctors alleging that their kidneys had been stolen from them at the house in Al Faisal Town. Dr Sanaullah and Dr Imran were identified as the ringleaders and biggest earners from the illegal operations.

On July 23, Dr Imran and Dr Sanaullah were granted interim bail from the Sessions Court. Since then, they have repeatedly been given extensions by various courts, in violation of the National Judicial Policy issued by the Supreme Court in 2009.

Section D.1.4 of the policy says: “Bail applications under Section 497 of the Criminal Procedure Code shall be decided not beyond a period of three days by a magistrate, five days by a sessions court and seven days by a High Court.”

Interim bail is defined as the period between which an accused moves a bail application and when that application is decided. Curbing the interim bail period was the express purpose of this section of the policy.

Advocate Tipu Salman Makhdoom said that though this was a clear violation of the policy, there was no law against this. He said that violations of the policy were routine in the High Courts as well.

“A month or so ago PHA officials were given bail, after their interim bail had been extended for a year and a half by the High Court,” he said.

Meanwhile Abdullah Halame Nur, a dual national of the Netherlands and Somalia who came to Pakistan on 1 June to get a kidney, is on dialysis and in serious condition. The High Court and Sessions Court recently rejected his bail pleas on compassionate grounds.

Sources in the police said that the two doctors had made millions of rupees in illegal transplant operations. They said that the police inquiry established their guilt. An investigator said that granting them interim bail extensions sent the message that the rich were immune to the law. He said that instead, Nur should be given bail on humanitarian grounds as he was dying.

Bail hearings

Dr Sanaullah went on interim bail on July 22 and Dr Imran on July 26 against surety bounds of Rs50,000 each. They have received extensions in their interim bail and had their applications transferred to various courts over the last four months.

The applications went from Additional District and Sessions Judge Husnain Qadir Ghillon, to ADSJ Sheraz Kiani, then to ADSJ Sana Khan Attique and back again to Ghillon. Duty judges Arif Hameed Shaikh and Rana Zahid Iqbal also heard the applications.

Ghillon was present for one hearing while four hearings in his court were rescheduled because he was on leave. Kiani adjourned the case on five occasions, usually on the plea of the defence lawyers seeking more time to prepare. On October 7, Assistant Sub Inspector Muhammad Shafique brought the case record to Kiani’s court, expecting to testify, but again the case was adjourned as both counsel sought more time to prepare.

Judge Sana Khan Attique heard the bail applications thrice, adjourning each time for similar reasons. The case then returned to Ghillon’s court after the judge returned from leave.

Some lawyers said that Dr Imran’s brother was a lawyer with strong ties to some representatives of the Lahore Bar Association. They said that groups of lawyers had been appearing before Judges Kiani and Attique. They said it did not matter that the policy was being violated, as it was not legally binding.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 5^th, 2011.