Fake doctors and their accomplices set free

Eight officials from DHQ were earlier sentenced by anti- corruption court.

RAWALPINDI:

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday suspended the sentence of former medical superintendent of District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) and seven others and granted them bail. These officials were earlier convicted in the case of hiring four persons, who had fake MBBS degrees, as doctors.

Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi of the LHC Rawalpindi bench directed the convicts to submit surety bonds each worth Rs100, 000. The former MS of DHQ Dr Khalid Iqbal, Muhammad Bashir, former assistant registrar Pakistan Medical Dental Council (PMDC) former nurse Riffat Shaheen, former head clerk DHQ Muhammad Irfan and former accountant of the hospital Asif Ayub, along with the three brothers having fake MBBS degrees Syed Salahuddin, Syed Naseeruddin and Syed Allauddin, had been implicated in the case.

The lawyers representing the convicts pleaded that the trial court sentenced them with five years jail term but they had already been in the jail since their arrest in October 2009.

Under the jail manuals the convicted persons had already undergone major portion of their imprisonment and the lawyer asked for releasing them on bail after suspension of their sentence.

The jail authorities on Thursday informed the high court that the convicted persons had to remain in the jail for another five months only.

Following this information, Justice Naqvi accepted the bail plea of the convicts and suspended their sentence till the final outcome of their appeal.

It was on September 10 that a special judge of anti-corruption court convicted these persons in the case of hiring three brothers and the female nurse with fake MBBS degrees as doctors in DHQ.

The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) of Punjab registered the criminal case against the 13 persons on October 17, 2009 on the complaint of the then secretary health Punjab Anwar Ahmed after the media highlighted the scam of appointment of many persons as doctors with fake MBBS degrees.

The Supreme Court and high court had denied bail to the convicted persons in the case.

On the other hand the departmental inquiry initiated against the accused public servants by the Punjab administration is yet to be completed.

The trial court, however acquitted former deputy MS of DHQ Dr Bilal Arshad, former director finance Rawalpindi Medical Colleges and Allied Hospitals Muhammad Rasheed Akhtar and three female doctors Mobin Akhtar, Mariam Waqar and Romana Masood for want of evidence against them. 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28^th, 2011.