Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: A Special Court, Central Islamabad, has sent the former Registrar Pakistan Medical and Dental Counsel (PM&DC), on a judicial remand, in a corruption and forgery case.

The accused Ahmed, Nadeem Akbar, was produced by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) before the court of Special Judge Central Malik Nazir. He sent the accused to jail on a judicial remand.

The other two accused in the case, including Shifa International Hospital’s CEO, Dr. Manzoor ul Haq Qazi and another doctor of the same hospital Dr. Nasiruddin Khokhar, were still behind bars as they have been granted interim bail in the case. It may be mentioned here that the FIA came into action regarding the case after the Supreme Court took suo-moto action regarding the irregularities in the PMDC on an application of a victim patient Muhammad Nadeed. The apex court will hear the case on December 14.

Interestingly the PMDC issued a notification for restoration of Dr. Akbar on the same day when the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested him in another case of forgery and misconduct. As many as 19 FIRs of corruption, irregularities, embezzlement of funds in various schemes and misuse of powers were already registered against the former registrar, Dr. Nadeem Akbar, by the police, the FIA and the NAB starting 2013.

Nadeem Akbar had been working on the post of PM&DC Registrar from 2007 to 2013. Cases were of corruption were registered against him in the PMDC building construction, irregularities in hiring new staff, and corruption in recognition of medical colleges. The investigation by the state departments were still continuing against Dr. Ahmed Nadeem Akbar in the above cases but the PMDC body had issued a notification to restore him.

The FIA had registered an FIR against the former registrar PMDC and Shifa International Hospital’s Management, on the complaint of a patient, Nadeem Akhtar, who stated that he visited the hospital where the Gastroenterology Department’s head, Dr. Nasir Khokhar, prescribed the wrong medicine for him that caused brain atrophy and impotency.

The above doctor had registered with PMDC as an MBBS doctor (Karachi University) and a diplomat of the American Board (DAB) Internal Medicine while he has given a list of bogus degrees on his letter head including the Professor of Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, DAB Quality Medicine and Fellow American College of Gastroenterology.