ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday issued notices after hearing a petition filed against the appointment of acting chief executive officer (CEO) of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap). The petition says that the incumbent CEO managed to declare himself dead in a number of corruption cases and that he is also being investigated for having assets beyond his means.

After hearing the arguments, a single IHC bench, comprising of Justice Aamir Farooq, issued notices to the secretary National Health Services (NHS), CEO Drap and to the officer who has been given acting charge as Drap CEO.

The Ministry of NHS had on Feb 2 given Sheikh Akhtar Hussain charge as Drap CEO through an office order. The decision surprised many as there were allegations that Sheikh Akhtar Hussain had allegedly declared himself dead in a number of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) cases and that the bureau had also started an inquiry against him.

High court advocate Ali Nawaz Kharal, who filed the petition on behalf of Drug Lawyers Forum President Noor Mahar, told Dawn that he had told the court that Sheikh Akhtar Hussain was facing an inquiry and that he had also managed to declare himself dead in two corruption cases being investigated in NAB, which is also inquiring into his assets.

The petitioner says the officer declared himself dead in NAB corruption cases, is being investigated for having assets beyond means

“There are serious allegations against Sheikh Akhtar. Moreover, he is a junior officer and according to a number of Supreme Court decisions, junior officers cannot be appointed as acting heads. The appointment of such an officer without a reason shows that those who decided to appoint him have their own motives,” he said.

Mr Kharal said Sheikh Akhtar was appointed Drap CEO for three months.

“But a number of blunders can be made in that time. Drap is one of the most important and sensitive organisations and deals with the health of people. Such [appointments] can cause irrecoverable losses,” he said.

In the petition, Mr Kharal has demanded that the appointment of Sheikh Akhtar be declared null and void, for which a hearing will be held next week.

However, in the afternoon, Drap issued a statement saying a group of criminals involved in the illicit business of manufacturing of spurious, unregistered and substandard drugs is trying to defame Drap officers who are taking steps to stop their illegal activities.

“This group was running a malicious campaign against Dr Sheikh, quoting two NAB references declaring him deceased. In fact, NAB has cleared the officer in that case where he was wrongly arrayed as deceased person. In this regard, the NAB has submitted a detailed report in the Islamabad High Court maintaining that all adverse allegations levelled against the officer are false, baseless and without any evidence,” the statement says.

The press release goes on to say that the “propaganda” against the Drap officer now includes certain dealers of spurious drugs giving false news about him to media houses. It says the officer in question has a continuous and seamless service record since his appointment in 1991 in the Ministry of Health and later in Drap.

Drap was established under Drap Act 2012 to provide effective coordination, for the enforcement of the Drugs Act, 1976 and to bring harmony in inter-provincial trade and commerce of therapeutic goods. It also decided the prices of medicines and takes notice in case of complaints regarding substandard drugs.

Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2018