PESHAWAR, May 16: An accountability court here on Monday acquitted a former medical superintendent of Lakki Marwat District Headquarters Hospital and 10 other suspects charged with purchasing defective equipment for the hospital causing loss to national exchequer.

The court presided over by Ms Irshad Qaiser observed that prosecution could not prove its case against the prime accused, Dr Saleem, as well as other accused persons. The evidence on record did not connect them with the commission of the offence, the court observed.The National Accountability Bureau (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) had alleged that the accused had given permission for purchase of electromagnetic equipment for the hospital and later on it transpired that the said equipment were defective thus causing loss of Rs3.7 million to the exchequer.

Advocate Qazi Jawad Ahsanullah appeared for Dr Saleem and another accused, Engineer Yaseen, who is electro-medical engineer in the health department. He contended that the entire case was fabricated. He said that prosecution could not prove that the purchased equipment were defective as no material evidence was placed on record in this regard.

He argued that approval for purchase of equipment was given by a high level inter-departmental purchase committee. He added that the accused had only complied with the approval given by the committee. He said that he was only the drawing and disbursement officer in this case.

The other accused persons included four doctors, who were member of internal purchase committees, and five of the suppliers of equipment.— Bureau Report