MULTAN: Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) registered a case against Medical Superintendent, Nishtar Hospital, Dr Ashiq Malik and six others on the charge of purchasing medicines worth Rs 10 million by violating the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules.
ACE sources told APP on Sunday the FIR no 57/18 had been registered under sections 109-409 Pakistan Penal Code and 5(2)A PCA with establishment’s police station.
The sources said that former additional Medical Superintendent (MS) Pharmacy, Dr Siddiq Saqib, AMS, Dr Muhammad Iqbal were also among the accused in the case.
Dr Ashiq Malik and his colleagues were allegedly involved in corruption in the procurement of medicines for Nishtar Hospital in his last tenure.
The doctors inserted duplicate demand of IV Infusion sets enhancing original quantity from 568, 150 to 1,000,000 (one million), the sources said, adding that inquiry reports found that Nishtar hospital medics violated PPRA rules.
In their two-page inquiry report, a team of senior officials found Dr Ashiq Malik, Dr Siddiq Saqib and Pharmacist, Ms Amina Arif guilty, the sources disclosed.
According to initial inquiry, the requirement of IV sets of Nishtar hospital is 200,000 annually while it procured 568,150 sets for FY 2016-17, the sources informed.
When contacted, MS Nishtar Hospital, Dr Ashiq Malik said that he did nothing to do with the procurement process as he had not DDO powers (Financial powers) during his last tenure.
Former principal Nishtar Medical College, Dr Kamran Salick, after approval from the Board of Management (BoM) purchased IV sets after due procedure, he said adding that ex-MS, Dr Abdur Rehman and his son Huzaifa Rehman were behind this baseless case against him.
The actual requirement of IV sets of Nishtar is around 1.6 mln annually while the ACE in its inquiry reports blamed him for purchasing one million sets, the MS stated.
He said that Dr Iqbal was AMS stores who has no role in purchasing medicines, adding that his name was also included in the FIR.
A 12-member inquiry board of health department has cleared him of the charges levelled against him after inquiry, Dr Malik insisted.
No PPRA rules were violated in the procurement of required sets, he added.
