ISLAMABAD: The hearing of an intra-court appeal against the removal of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) chief executive officer (CEO) will be held at the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday.

The intra-court petition has been filed by the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) after taking legal opinion from the law division. On the other hand, Drap is functioning without an acting head since April 14 when Dr Mohammad Aslam was removed from the post.

NHS Secretary Ayub Sheikh claimed that as the government had filed the appeal it was decided not to give the acting charge of Drap to any officer.

NHS ministry has filed intra-court against removal of Dr Mohammad Aslam

The IHC on April 14 declared the appointment Dr Aslam as the Drap chief illegal and directed the government to appoint a new CEO within 45 days. Though the appointment was declared ab initio (null from the date of appointment), all decisions made by Drap under Dr Aslam were protected.

Justice Athar Minallah of the IHC declared the appointment in violation of the qualifications and criteria prescribed under the Drap Act 2012.

The judgment announced on two separate petitions filed by Mirza Abdul Rehman in March 2015 and Mohammad Usman in October 2016 raised two major questions: Dr Aslam was overage at the time of his appointment [the maximum age for the post being 56 years] and had shares in a pharmaceutical company which became a reason for conflict of interest. An official of Drap, requesting anonymity, told Dawn that a debate had been going on the appointment of an acting CEO of Drap.

“Currently, there are two directors - Director Pricing Amanullah and Director Pharmaco vigilance Sheikh Ansar. But the acting charge of Drap was not given to any of them,” he said.

The post of CEO was advertised three times and finally in January 2015 Dr Aslam, who held a PhD degree in pharmacy, was hired for three years on a contractual basis. The contract could be extended for another one year.

Though Dr Aslam took a number of positive decisions, which could only be imagined in a developing country like Pakistan, he remained under criticism of a number of stakeholders and some people even went to courts against him.

An official of the ministry said Dr Aslam was less than 56 years old when he applied for the post. But it took a long time to complete the process of appointment due to which he became overage. Moreover, after his appointment as the Drap head, Dr Aslam donated the shares to the employees of the pharmaceutical company.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2017