ISLAMABAD: A division bench of Islamabad High Court (IHC) terminated a ‘Deadman’ Akhtar Hussain Shaikh, as chief executive officer (CEO) Drug Regulatory Authority (DRAP) on Thursday.
The bench comprising IHC chief justice Athar Minallah and Justice Amir Farooq gave judgement in the case wherein, a Lahore- based citizen, Noor Mahar, president Pakistan Lawyers Pharmacists Forum, had challenged appointment of Akhtar Hussain Shaikh as CEO DRAP.
DRAP ‘s CEO position is lucrative one and its holder, if wants, can make money as much as desired to stuff his/her bank accounts by granting undue prices of medicines to drug manufacturers. The registration of new medicines is another area where CEO DRAP and his team makes money. The lobbies of pharmaceutical companies always play a role in getting inducted their man as CEO DRAP.
Akhtar Hussain Shaikh, a cunning man, enjoyed full support and cover of a strong lobby having close relationship with Saqib Nisar, Pakistan’s most controversial and reputeless chief justice.
Shaikh Akhtar Hussain was terminated by IHC in March 2021, but he managed to get a stay order from the court of Justice Babar Sattar, again a lawyer who had been counsel of dozens of pharna companies during his legal practice. Finally, a division bench of chief justice Athar Minallah and Justice Amir Farooq terminated Shaikh Akhtar Hussain as CEO DRAP on October 21, 2021 who, as per National Accountability Bureau (NAB) record, was a ‘Deadman:’