ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice (CJ) Saqib Nisar has on Wednesday ordered halting the extension to Sheikh Zayed Hospital’s chairman Dr Farid Khan as the issue was taken up by the representatives of two medical associations.
Halting the extension to Dr Farid Khan, CJ ordered that a new chairman must be appointed at the hospital. He said that the court understood Dr Farid Khan was being given the extension upon Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Shehbaz Sharif’s son Hamza Shehbaz’s orders.
The court was told that the board of governors had decided to request Dr Farid Khan to continue working after April 10, the date on which his tenure ends, till a new chairman is appointed. CJ warned the board against the move, saying that the board could be dissolved in case of noncompliance of the court orders.
Also read: FIA under pressure to not proceed against Shaikh Zayed chairman
Daily Times had reported in December last year that Dr Farid Khan had been violating the rules and embezzling the funds of the hospital. It was reported that FIA’s investigation documents available with Daily Times showed that Khan had transferred Rs780 million from a pension account of SZMC employees to various other bank accounts. This was done without the approval of the board of governors.
Moreover, Dr Khan had visited New York, Bangkok, Dubai, Turkey Istanbul, Riyadh, Doha, Hong Kong and London in violation of rules.
In another instance, Dr Khan formed an NGO (‘Foundation of Friends of Plastic Surgery’) in violation of the Civil Service Act of 2016, with himself, his wife and mother as trustees. The NGO received funds from a United States-based NGO, Smile Train, to do free lips and cleft palate surgeries for deserving patients. Documents show that 281 surgeries were conducted at Mayo Hospital, six at a private hospital on Zafar Ali Road and two at a private facility in Mozang.
However, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) was reluctant to take on the controversial chairman. Sources told Daily Times that a federal minister close to the SZMC chairman had been pressuring the FIA not to take action against Dr Farid Khan. However, FIA officially had denied the reports that it was under any political pressure in this regard.
