Court reserves verdict on removal of drug authority chief

ISLAMABAD: A bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday reserved its verdict with regard to the removal of Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) Chief Executive Officer Sheikh Akhtar Hussain, ARY News reported.

A single bench of the high court comprises of Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb heard the case.

Sheikh Akhtar Hussain had been appointed on the top post of the drug regulatory authority on December 27 last year.

On March 8, the Ministry of National Health Services had removed Sheikh Akhtar Hussain from his services over alleged fake PhD degree in pharmacy who he had received from the Open International University of Colombo, Sri Lanka in 2000 and was not included in the HEC’s list of international chartered varsities.

Shaikh Akhtar challenged the ministry’s order in high court. His counsel argued before the bench that his client was removed from his post against the rules.

A committee headed by the Secretary Health didn’t receive any complaint against the DRAP chief, the counsel said.

The lawyer also argued that it is not mandatory for the CEO of DRAP to hold a PhD degree.

Earlier, the court had suspended the notification regarding removal of the drug regulatory chief.

Justice Mian Gul Hassan had directed the petitioner to resume his duty and also issued notices to the official respondents, including the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of National Health Services, DRAP, the Establishment Division and others to submit their replies to the petition.