The Sindh government on Wednesday placed the services of its Chief Pathologist and Chemical Examiner Dr Zahid Ansari under suspension over charges of disclosing confidential information, the Sindh chief minister's adviser told Dawn.
“The chief chemical examiner was suspended [from his duties] following his failure to perform his official duties,” said Barrister Murtaza Wahab, the adviser to Sindh chief minister for information, law, and anti-corruption.
A notification in this regard has been issued by the Sindh chief secretary asking Dr Ansari to report to the provincial health department with immediate effect.
Explaining the reason behind Dr Ansari’s suspension, Wahab said that the chemical examiner allegedly violated “the code of conduct set for the government officials to not disclose any confidential matter before the public or media”.
It is pertinent to mention that it was Dr Ansari who had signed the chemical examination report about the contents of the bottles recovered from incarcerated PPP leader Sharjeel Inam Memon's room in Karachi's Ziauddin Hospital, stating that the bottles contained honey and olive oil.
“The chief chemical examiner has been removed from his job for breaching the law by disclosing the video of chemical examination and releasing it on social media,” Wahab said, adding that Dr Ansari’s suspension “must not be taken in a negative sense”.
The adviser further maintained that it was the prerogative of the Sindh government to remove any of its officials for violating the services rules.
Last week, Chief Justice Saqib Nisar had conducted a ‘raid’ on a room of Dr Ziauddin Hospital in Clifton, which was declared a sub-jail by provincial authorities, where Memon was hospitalised, and reportedly found "liquor" there.
Soon after the bottles were confiscated, the PPP leadership had insisted that the bottles did not contain alcohol but honey and olive oil.
The chemical report signed by Dr Ansari had confirmed that one bottle contained honey while the other contained olive oil.
Meanwhile, it appeared that Memon's blood also did not contain any traces of alcohol, DawnNewsTV had said while quoting the test report.
