The Governor of Punjab has dismissed an appeal by the former chief executive officer of the Jhang District Health Authority, upholding an earlier order that departmental proceedings be started against him over alleged embezzlement of public funds.
The case centres on millions of rupees said to have been misused from the Jhang District Health Authority’s funds. A citizen, Haji Muhammad Hussain, lodged the complaint with the Punjab ombudsperson, alleging that money was misappropriated through inflated fuel bills and vehicle maintenance expenses.
An inquiry into those allegations was conducted by the District Adviser to the Ombudsperson, Chaudhry Almas. In his written reply, the former health chief, Dr Shahzad, maintained that his official vehicle had been used extensively to monitor health programmes across Jhang and adjoining areas, and argued that the fuel and repair expenses were therefore justified.
The inquiry report, however, found him guilty of the charges. The Punjab ombudsperson subsequently directed the health secretary to conduct a regular departmental inquiry and to take appropriate action in line with that finding.
Appeal dismissed
Dr Shahzad challenged the ombudsperson’s order before the Governor. The Governor has now rejected that appeal and upheld the original directions, meaning the health department must proceed with the departmental inquiry as ordered.
The decision does not, on its own, settle every question in the case: a departmental inquiry is an internal disciplinary process, distinct from a criminal trial, and its outcome will determine what further action, if any, is taken against the former official. What the Governor’s ruling does settle, for now, is that the ombudsperson’s order stands and cannot be set aside on appeal.
Why it matters for Jhang
Health authority funds pay for the day-to-day running of public health services in a district — the vehicles, fuel and maintenance at the heart of this complaint are the unglamorous machinery that allows health teams to reach far-flung villages and monitor programmes on the ground. When questions are raised about how that money was spent, residents have a direct interest in seeing the matter examined properly and transparently.
The case also illustrates how the ombudsperson’s office functions as a route for ordinary citizens to challenge the use of public money. A single complaint, pursued through an inquiry and then defended against an appeal, has now produced a binding direction to the health department to act.
What happens next
A departmental inquiry typically examines the record — in this case, the fuel and maintenance bills, the vehicle logbooks and the monitoring work the official says justified them — and gives the officer concerned an opportunity to respond before any penalty is decided. That process can take time, and its findings may be challenged through further departmental or legal channels. Readers should therefore treat the Governor’s decision as an important procedural step rather than a final punishment: it keeps the inquiry alive and requires the department to act, but the inquiry itself has yet to run its course.
Accountability cases of this kind also tend to be watched closely by other public servants. When an appeal against an ombudsperson’s order fails, it reinforces the message that internal explanations alone are not enough to close a complaint — the underlying records must support them. For health staff working in Jhang today, the practical lesson is straightforward: keep clear, contemporaneous records of official travel and expenditure, because those records are what any future inquiry will test.
For the public, the case is a reminder that the ombudsperson’s office remains open to complaints about maladministration and misuse of public funds, and that such complaints can, with persistence, lead to formal action even when the official involved disputes the findings.
Jhang News Network will report any further official development in the departmental proceedings as it is confirmed.
Source: Dawn — “Governor rejects ex-health CEO’s plea in embezzlement case”, 25 October 2026.
