Unnecessary hospitalisation: FIA to probe former magistrate’s facilitators

PIMS report declared him medically fit.

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday ordered a zonal director of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to initiate criminal proceedings against officials involved in facilitating a former magistrate’s hospitalisation.

Farrukh Nadeem is accused of receiving Rs1.5million in illegal gratification in a case of land transfer. Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui asked FIA Islamabad Director Capt. (retd) Zafar Iqbal to submit a detailed report of the criminal proceedings against everyone, from the agency officials to the Polyclinic staff, who was involved in admitting the accused at the hospital on October 9.

During the course of the hearing, the FIA director claimed he had issued show-casue notices to the investigation officer and had taken action against him for negligence. But, according to him, the responsibility lay with the Polyclinic doctors who, allegedly admitted the accused. The court had summoned Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) secretary and Capt. (retd) Iqbal on October 2.

Interestingly, a report submitted by the executive director (ED) of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) had stated that Nadeem was medically fit, contradicting earlier claims by Polyclinic Hospital’s doctors who had declared he was suffering from multiple problems.

During the hearing, the ED of Polyclinic Hospital assured the court that he took action against Dr Ajmal, the man responsible for hospitalising the accused, who was sent on a 14-day judicial remand to Adiala jail by the court on September 25. The agency had arrested him on September 16 outside IHC after his bail was rejected by the court. FIA had registered a first information report against him on charges of receiving a bribe.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 3^rd, 2013.