SHC seeks arguments over FIA’s authority to conduct inquiry into NICVD affairs

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed a federal law officer and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) special prosecutor to argue over the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) jurisdiction regarding conducting a parallel inquiry into alleged corruption, misuse of funds, illegal appointments, out-of-turn promotions and awarding tenders to self-selected vendors in the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD).

The direction came during the hearing of a petition of the NICVD and its executive director Dr Nadeem Qamar, in which they had challenged the ongoing FIA inquiry into alleged corruption and irregularities in the NICVD.

Dr Qamar had submitted in his plea that the FIA had no jurisdiction to initiate the inquiry on a complaint of an employee of the NICVD as the institute was still a provincial subject. His counsel informed the high court that the FIA had earlier conducted an inquiry but had not found anything incriminating, and a fresh inquiry into the matter could not therefore be justified under the law.

The lawyer said NAB was also conducting an inquiry into the matter and so the inquiry by the FIA amounted to harassing the petitioner as the FIA had no jurisdiction to conduct an inquiry over the same allegations.

The high court on a previous hearing had directed a federal law officer and NAB to argue over the jurisdiction of the FIA regarding conducting an inquiry into same allegations that were being investigated by NAB. A NAB special prosecutor sought time to argue in the case.

A division bench of the SHC headed by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha directed the federal law officer to ensure attendance of the FIA investigation officer along with relevant documents to assist the court on the next hearing.

An FIA inquiry officer had earlier submitted in comments that the inquiry was authorised after a written complaint was filed by a staff member to the NICVD executive director with regard to alleged corruption, irregularities and misuse of funds in the institute. He said the complainant had also appeared before him and owned the content of his complaint, informing him that he was facing death threats from officials of the NICVD.

The inquiry officer said then Sindh health secretary Zahid Ali Abbasi had already mentioned in the comments filed with the SHC that the administrative control and management of the hospital had been taken over by the federal ministry of national health services, regulation and coordination; hence, the question of jurisdiction of the federal government did not arise.

He denied allegations of harassment by the FIA and submitted that only letters for the requisition of the record were sent and he did not visit the institute in connection with the procurement of the record and no face-to-face conversation with any officer at the NICVD took place on the premises of the institute.

The high court was requested to dismiss the petition and direct the NICVD to provide the requisite record in light of the allegations levelled by a senior government officer of the NICVD who had been harassed and threatened for whistleblowing.

The complainant, Dr Tariq Ahmed Sheikh, had also filed an application for becoming an intervener in the petition of the NICVD, submitting that he had noticed illegalities and irregularities of the highest level in the affairs of the heart hospital, including but not limited to misuse of power, unjustified and excessive salaries, perks and privileges, nepotism by way of illegal appointments of blood relatives, illegal out-of-turn promotions, excessive loans and salaries contrary to regulations, misuse of bank accounts, reappointments of retired employees with huge salaries, lack of a statutory audit and embezzlement of donations.

He said he had brought the irregularities to the notice of the executive director of the NICVD and the chief secretary, but no action was taken and consequently he lodged a complaint with the FIA, which resulted in the initiation of an inquiry.