The Gilgit Anti-Corruption Court has handed down its first major verdict, sentencing two employees of the health department to life imprisonment after finding them guilty of corruption in a hospital equipment procurement tender.

According to the court ruling, a lab technician and a radiologist were convicted of manipulating a tender issued in 2022 for the purchase of equipment for a 30-bed hospital in Nagar.

The court found that the Rs20 million tender advertisement was not published in the public procurement regulatory authority (PPRA), allegedly to favour specific contractors.

Anti-Corruption Court Judge Mahmood-ul-Hassan heard the case and ruled that the accused were involved in deliberate forgery and corruption during the tender process.

In addition, the court fined the procurement committee members Rs. 10 million for their carelessness and ordered their termination.

It further instructed the deputy commissioner to seize the properties of committee members if the fines are not paid.

In addition, the court sentenced a former DSP of the Anti-Corruption Establishment to two years in prison over a faulty investigation in the case.