PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to restart the investigation against government officials and pharmaceutical companies involved in sale of spurious drugs, especially Interferon injections used for treating the hepatitis C patients in the province.
A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan and Justice Asadullah Khan Chamkani asked the director general of the NAB Khyber Pakhtunkhwa branch to constitute a high profile team of investigators for the probe and file references against the officials and owners of manufacturing companies involved in this menace in the accountability courts under the NAB Ordinance 1999.
The bench also directed the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) department in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to transfer the cases against the Health Department officials and manufacturing companies’ owner registered against them in use of fake Interferon injections and tablets in government hospitals along with the entire record of investigation to the NAB. The bench also directed the NAB to submit progress report of the inquiry to the court after 14 days.
During the course of hearing, the chief justice observed there were reports that federal government officials relating to the Drug Regulatory Authority were involved in the spurious drugs business and they were even receiving money in millions for issuing a license to the manufacturing company and then the company was free to produce and sell the spurious drugs.
The chief justice observed the manufacturing companies were situated in Punjab and also federal government employees were involved in the business of spurious drugs. He said the ACE had no jurisdiction to deal with them, adding thus the NAB was the proper body to effectively take up such cases.
On the court’s directives, the ACE had conducted inquiry into the multi-million rupees scam about the purchase of substandard hepatitis injections and vaccines. Several Health Department officials including former director general of health Dr Sharif Ahmad Khan, Dr Chohan, then director of the relevant purchase committee and presently the Medical Superintendent of Maulvi Jee Hospital Peshawar, chief of Provincial Hepatitis Control Programme Dr Ghulam Subhani and a storekeeper Mubarak Shah were arrested and charged. However, they were released on bail and their cases were being heard by the special court.
“We have been dealing with revamping and refining of health sector, eradication of corruption and plug menace of spurious drugs. In the recent past the top health officials of the province were found involved in purchase of spurious Interferon injections from manufacturing companies after approval from the chief secretary and many high-ranking officials arrested during the course of investigation,” the bench stated in its order.
The bench added that the spurious drugs mafia was openly operating in the province by selling poison to the poor patients and the dirty business was spreading day by day.
They also stated in the order that manufacturing companies also indulged in this nefarious practice and got on board the top health officials and doctors. They were selling the spurious drugs in the open markets. It said doctors were bribed for prescribing the spurious drugs to the patients.
The bench stated that both the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and Health Regulatory Authority (HRA) had failed to adopt effective law to curb the menace and regulate the services of private laboratories, tests, medicines rates, provision of service structure to the provincial doctors, paramedical staff and nurses and hardship allowance to those doctors performing duties in far flung and rural areas.
However, the court disposed of its suo moto notice case taken in use of spurious drugs in the government hospitals and medical stores.
Deputy Attorney General Muhammad Iqbal Mohmand and official from Drug Regulatory Authority Tariq Sadique informed the bench that amendments in the Drug Act were the duty of legislators and currently there is maximum punishment of 10 years for those found guilty in this practice. The chief justice observed that the legislators have given room to the accused persons and brought the law up to 80 percent in favour of the drug mafia involved in this business.
