Interferon scam: PHC adjourns hearing over absence of case record
Former director general health asked to help ACE in investigation.
The drug used to suppress HCV, the fatal hepatitis C disease, cost the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Health Department roughly Rs250 million. PHOTO: FILE
PESHAWAR:
The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Monday prematurely adjourned the hearing of four bail applications of health officials – accused of supplying fake Hepatitis C vaccines to government hospitals – till May 13.
Additional Advocate General Fazlur Rehman and Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) official requested PHC Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan to postpone the session since the case record was not present. After the ACE informed the record will take three days to be completed, the bench adjourned the hearing prematurely.
The court, however, directed former director general health Dr Muhammad Ali Chohan, who is one of the accused but has obtained pre-arrest bail, to cooperate with the ACE and help in its investigation.
Besides Dr Chohan, the then director general (DG) health Dr Muhammad Sharif, former project director Hepatitis C control programme Ghulam Subhani and a shopkeeper Mubarak Shah were arrested in the scam.
During the hearing on Monday, Shah’s counsel Mian Fayaz argued his client was only a shopkeeper whose job was to register medicines that were brought in. He pointed out Noman, another shopkeeper who was higher in rank than his client, was never interrogated by the ACE.
The officials are accused of purchasing approximately 1.6 million sub-standard interferon vials. The drug used to suppress HCV, the fatal hepatitis C disease, cost the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Health Department roughly Rs250 million.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 7th, 2013.
The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Monday prematurely adjourned the hearing of four bail applications of health officials – accused of supplying fake Hepatitis C vaccines to government hospitals – till May 13.
Additional Advocate General Fazlur Rehman and Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) official requested PHC Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan to postpone the session since the case record was not present. After the ACE informed the record will take three days to be completed, the bench adjourned the hearing prematurely.
The court, however, directed former director general health Dr Muhammad Ali Chohan, who is one of the accused but has obtained pre-arrest bail, to cooperate with the ACE and help in its investigation.
Besides Dr Chohan, the then director general (DG) health Dr Muhammad Sharif, former project director Hepatitis C control programme Ghulam Subhani and a shopkeeper Mubarak Shah were arrested in the scam.
During the hearing on Monday, Shah’s counsel Mian Fayaz argued his client was only a shopkeeper whose job was to register medicines that were brought in. He pointed out Noman, another shopkeeper who was higher in rank than his client, was never interrogated by the ACE.
The officials are accused of purchasing approximately 1.6 million sub-standard interferon vials. The drug used to suppress HCV, the fatal hepatitis C disease, cost the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Health Department roughly Rs250 million.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 7th, 2013.