ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has granted post-arrest bail to Dr Shaukat Ali Bangash, CEO of Quaid-i-Azam International Hospital (QIH), in an illegal human organ transplantation case registered by the Federal Investigation Agency.
According to the prosecution, the FIR was lodged following a complaint by Syed Shah Faisal, Assistant Director (Admin)/Monitoring Officer of the Human Organ Transplant Authority (HOTA), Islamabad. Acting on information about an illegal kidney transplant at QIH, a joint raid was conducted by HOTA and FIA on May 19, 2026.
During the raid, the team allegedly found an illegal and unrelated kidney transplant in progress involving a recipient, Shakeel and a donor, Waseem Akram.
Dr Nadir Hussain, urologist, and Syed Adeel Haider (also known as Adeel Shirazi), the hospital’s transplant coordinator, were apprehended on the spot. An amount of Rs1,294,000 was recovered from the drawer of Dr Nadir’s office, said to have been paid for the surgery.
One Saleem, reportedly a personal assistant to Dr Nadir, was named as an absconder operating an organised network for illegal kidney transplants.
Advocate Raja Ikram Ameen Minhas, counsel for the petitioner, argued that Dr Bangash had been falsely implicated. He said the petitioner was neither nominated in any statement recorded under Sections 161 or 164 of CrPC nor named in the FIR. His name was subsequently introduced through a Zimni/case diary entry.
He said both the donor and recipient had submitted affidavits before a magistrate, adding the donation was without monetary benefit.
Referring to Section 13 of the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 2010, Mr Minhas said there was no evidence that the petitioner failed to exercise due diligence to prevent the alleged offence.
The assistant attorney general opposed the bail application, contending that Dr Bangash was in charge of and responsible for the hospital’s affairs and compliance with the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 2010. Therefore, Section 13 of the Act prima facie attracts vicarious liability.
The prosecution alleged commercial consideration, transfer of Rs4 million from the account of alleged agent Saleem to the hospital account titled Global Health Services, and alleged fraudulent procurement of HOTA approvals through Dr Nadir Hussain and Adeel Shirazi. It was further stated that additional interrogation and confrontation with physical record are required.
The court noted that the offences alleged were serious and fall within the prohibitory/non-bailable clause of the Schedule to the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898. However, it observed that settled law holds gravity of the offence alone is not sufficient to deny bail if the accused is otherwise entitled to it, and that at the bail stage the court is not to conduct a mini-trial.
The petitioner’s alleged liability is primarily vicarious/constructive under Section 13 of the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 2010, which contains a statutory proviso permitting exoneration if the person proves absence of knowledge or exercise of due diligence.
The court held this defence is triable and requires evidence, and at this stage it cannot be conclusively determined that the petitioner had knowledge of, or connived in, the alleged illegal transplant. The court concluded that the alleged transfer to the hospital account and procurement of HOTA approvals require deeper appreciation at trial and do not, at this stage, furnish conclusive proof of the petitioner’s personal knowledge, intention, or active connivance.
Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2026
