MULTAN: The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) Multan office has moved a request to its Director General Hussain Asghar to contact the health department to bar Nishtar Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Ashiq Malik from influencing the officers/officials in a case.

The accused is pressuring the officials and has also managed production of documents by preparing the same in back dates in connection with a corruption case against him, Dawn has learnt.

In a letter to the DG on Dec 17, ACE Multan Director Amjad Shoaib Tareen stated that Investigation Officer Ehsanul Haq had submitted his up-to-date progress/investigation report in which he had reported that a seven-member committee of the hospital including former MS Dr Abdul Rehman Qureshi carried out a preliminary probe and submitted its report on Aug 25, 2017.

He stated that the committee declared that the accused purchased excessive/unjustified quantity of the IV sets for 2016-17 and also expressed apprehension about misuse of drugs.

“The same IV sets were also recovered from the local market by the Federal Investigation Agency’s Multan office,” he stated.

He said the investigation officer called the committee and its five out of seven members submitted their statements that they had signed the preliminary probe report under pressure of former MS Dr Qureshi.

“This state of affairs shows that the accused (present) MS Dr Ashiq Malik is not only pressuring the officers/officials of Nishtar Hospital, Multan for concealing the evidence but also managing production of documents by preparing these in back dates as per the report of the investigation officer. In such circumstances, investigation of the case is being hampered by the accused who is supervising the whole staff and managing/manipulating the record in his favour,” he added.

He stated that it would be in the fitness of things that the health department may be requested that the accused MS may be kept away from influencing the officers/officials of the hospital.

FIR No57/18 was lodged with the ACE Multan against Dr Malik and others under sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act 1947 for committing irregularities in supply and purchase of medicines. The accused allegedly had doubled the demand of medicines unnecessarily, inflicting a loss on the exchequer.

Dr Ashiq Malik, while speaking to Dawn, denied the allegations. He said he was considering to approach the health department with a request to transfer him from the Nishtar Hospital. He accused the ACE officials of humiliating him during investigation.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2018