SC grants bail to doctor accused of illegal kidney transplants

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to a doctor accused of involvement in illegal kidney transplants as investigators said forensic evidence from his mobile phone linked him to dozens of transplant cases.

A two-member Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail heard the bail petition of Dr Nadir Hussain, who was arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in May during a raid at a private hospital in Islamabad.

During Friday’s hearing, an investigating officer told the court that a forensic examination of Dr Nadir’s mobile phone showed his alleged involvement in 65 kidney transplant cases.

The investigator also told the court that the doctor had been arrested before an alleged transplant could take place in the case under investigation.

“It is possible that the transplant may not have taken place,” Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan observed.

The investigating officer said the authorities had also seized a prescription written by the doctor.

Justice Mandokhail questioned whether a doctor was required to check a patient’s identity card before examining them.

“Doctors are very busy,” he remarked.

The additional attorney general told the court that Dr Nadir was not merely examining patients but was specifically involved in kidney transplants.

The investigator alleged that poor brick-kiln workers were brought from southern Punjab and their kidneys were removed as part of the illegal transplant network.

The case centres on allegations of illegal and commercially arranged kidney transplants at the private hospital, where Dr Nadir was associated with the kidney transplant programme.

The FIA arrested Dr Nadir and several other suspects in May after raiding the hospital while an allegedly illegal kidney transplant was being performed, according to reports based on the agency’s investigation.

Dr Nadir and transplant coordinator Syed Adil Haider were among those arrested.

The FIA subsequently expanded its investigation into an alleged wider network involving kidney donors, agents and hospital personnel.

In June, the agency arrested alleged network agents Shabbir Hussain and Ghulam Abbas, saying its investigation had found evidence that Dr Nadir may have been involved in around 187 illegal kidney transplants.

The agency said recipients were allegedly charged between Rs6 million and Rs10 million, while financially vulnerable donors were paid only a few hundred thousand rupees.

The allegations have been contested through the legal proceedings, and no finding of guilt has been made against Dr Nadir.

The case has already been heard by several lower courts.

A judicial magistrate granted post-arrest bail to Dr Nadir and another accused on June 9.

 The FIA challenged the decision, and an additional sessions judge cancelled the bail on July 20.

The accused then approached the Islamabad High Court, which on August 7 upheld the cancellation of their bail.

IHC Judge Justice Muhammad Azam Khan held that the magistrate’s order granting bail was prima facie erroneous and that the sessions court had valid grounds to cancel it.

The IHC also noted that the investigation included a transfer of Rs2 million into Dr Nadir’s account and statements recorded under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. It held that the FIA had legal authority to investigate the allegations under the Human Organ Transplantation Act.

During Friday’s Supreme Court hearing, the additional attorney general asked the court to direct the trial court to decide the case quickly.

Justice Malik Shahzad observed that lower courts already had a large number of pending cases.

Justice Mandokhail remarked that the large number of pending cases could also indicate that people continued to have confidence in the courts.

The Supreme Court subsequently granted bail to Dr Nadir.