Court grants NAB physical remand in medicine scandal

The Special Accountability Court in Peshawar on Saturday handed over a suspect arrested in connection with a multi-million rupee corruption scandal involving the procurement of government medicines to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on a seven-day physical remand.

The case was heard by Accountability Court Judge Hamid Mughal. The suspect, Syed Khurshid Ali, appeared before the court along with his lawyer, the NAB investigating officer, and the NAB prosecutor.

The NAB prosecutor informed the court that Khurshid Ali was arrested over allegations of embezzlement in the Medicine Coordination Cell. According to the prosecutor, the suspect, in collusion with health department officials, opened a fake bank account. The health department had authorised Rs342.4 million for the purchase of medicines from a private company, of which Rs153 million were paid to the firm. However, the remaining Rs184.4 million were embezzled by the accused individuals.

The prosecutor requested the court to grant physical remand of the suspect, stating that further investigation was required. Accepting NAB's plea, the court remanded Khurshid Ali to NAB custody for seven days.

On the other hand, Peshawar High Court ordered the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government to transfer a prisoner, Amin Hussain, from Central Jail Karachi to the province within seven days, despite the fact that he had completed his sentence 12 years ago.