IHRA Car and three CEO extensions raise questions over Zaeem Zia’s additional DG health charge

Questions have been raised over the alleged continued use of an Islamabad Healthcare Regulatory Authority official car

Islamabad: Questions have been raised over the alleged continued use of an Islamabad Healthcare Regulatory Authority official car by Dr Muhammad Zaeem Zia after he ceased to hold the authority’s Chief Executive Officer charge, while his repeated additional charge as CEO and later appointment as Director General Health have also drawn attention to the way important posts are being managed.

According to available records, the IHRA vehicle bearing registration GLI GAT 643 was allegedly still associated with Dr Zaeem Zia after he was no longer serving as the authority’s CEO. This raises a direct administrative question: after an officer leaves the post, who authorizes the continued use of an official vehicle?

The question becomes more serious because an official IHRA order dated July 27, 2026 clearly directed Dr Zaeem Zia to relinquish the CEO charge after he had completed two separate periods of additional charge, each lasting three months.

The same order, issued after a resolution of the 58th meeting of the IHRA Board, assigned Dr Rutabah Ikram, Deputy Director Registration, to look after the CEO office in addition to her own duties until further orders.

This raises another question. If the IHRA Board had decided that the two three-month additional charge periods had ended, why did the issue of keeping the CEO position under additional charge continue?

The record shows that the matter did not end with the July order. The provided material says the Ministry of National Health Services later issued a third consecutive additional charge for three months or until a regular appointment. The IHRA Board objected to this arrangement and again directed that the CEO charge be relinquished.

Why was a third additional charge considered after two earlier periods had already been completed? Why was a regular appointment not finalized during this period? And what was the legal and administrative basis for continuing with additional charge when the authority’s own board had raised an objection?

The issue has become more notable because, after leaving the IHRA CEO position, Dr Zaeem Zia was given additional charge of Director General Health in the Ministry of National Health Services.

According to available records, a ministry notification dated August 17, 2026 assigned him the BS-20 post of Director General Health for three months or until a regular officer was appointed, whichever came first. His base position was stated as BS-19 Director Medical in the ministry on deputation from the Gilgit Baltistan Health Department.

This creates another question: after the repeated additional charge arrangements at IHRA, what criteria were used to select the same officer for another important federal health post on additional charge?

The available documents do not provide a comparative record showing which other officers were considered for the DG Health responsibility or whether a competitive process was carried out before the additional charge was given.

The appointment history also has an earlier point of controversy. The IHRA CEO position was publicly advertised on November 24, 2025 for a three-year contract, while later questions were raised about whether the advertised competitive recruitment process was completed before Dr Zaeem Zia assumed the office.

Under the Islamabad Healthcare Regulation Act, 2018, the IHRA Board has the authority to appoint the full-time CEO and determine the terms and conditions of service. The law also sets out conditions regarding eligibility and disqualification for the post.

There were also later questions within IHRA about decisions taken during Dr Zaeem Zia’s period as acting CEO. The board sought an administrative review concerning alleged procedural violations, delays, appointments and expenditures without approval, record discrepancies and alleged vehicle and fuel misuse. .

The record also shows that some initiatives attributed to his period were described by the IHRA Board as having been directed by the Board itself, adding another question about which decisions were personally taken by the acting CEO and which were decisions of the authority as a whole.

For this report, Dr Zaeem Zia was asked whether he was still holding any position at IHRA, whether he had continued using any IHRA vehicle, petrol, staff support or other facilities after becoming DG Health, under whose authority any such resources were being provided, and whether he had formally returned the assets issued during his CEO tenure.

His response was brief: “No resources are being provided from IHRA thank you.”

The Acting CEO of IHRA, Dr Rutabah Ikram, was separately asked whether Dr Zaeem Zia still held any position at the authority, whether the Board had formally relieved him, whether any vehicle or other resources continued to be provided and what the official policy was for returning such assets.

No response had been received from Dr Rutabah Ikram at the time of filing the report.

The available record therefore leaves several questions requiring answers: who authorized the use of the IHRA vehicle, whether all assets were returned after the CEO charge ended, why the CEO position passed through three consecutive additional charge periods, and what process was followed before Dr Zaeem Zia was given the additional charge of Director General Health.