Rs70m NAB reference: Court acquits Health Dept officials, contractor

PESHAWAR: A judge of the Special Accountability Court here on Thursday acquitted a senior official of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Department and others in a reference filed against them by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for awarding a procurement contract to a firm in 2017.

In a detailed judgment, Kulsoom Azam, a judge of the of Special Accountability Court, said the procurement of insecticide for controlling dengue fever had been made at a time when the chief minister, minister for health and Health secretary were monitoring the whole situation of the spread of dengue fever in the province. She said under the same circumstance, rules were relaxed for the purchase of insecticide on an emergency basis.

The court dismissed the allegations of the low quality of chemical as there were no such analyses or reports produced in the court that could prove the charge. The NAB in its reference had charged DG Health and five others for causing Rs 70 million loss to the exchequer through an insecticide procurement contract awarded to a firm at exorbitant rates. The honourable judge ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove charges against DG Health Dr Ayub Rose, programme manager of the Integrated Vector Control Programme Dr Afsar Anwar, Director Administration at the Directorate of Health services Dr Jamal Abdul Nasir, Procurement Officer Adil Shah, IVCP entomologist Salahuddin, and owner of the Alaptageen Enterprises Firm, Shahid Raza. The court accepted the acquittal application of the accused under Section 265-K of the Criminal Procedure Code, which empowers the trial court to acquit an accused before the conclusion of the trial if there is a probability of his or her conviction on the basis of available records.