PAKPATTAN, Punjab: A sessions court on Monday acquitted two former health officials in the Pakpattan child deaths case. The case involved 20 children who died at District Headquarters Hospital in June 2025.
Additional Sessions Judge Asad Hafeez acquitted former DHQ Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Adnan Ghaffar and former District Health Authority Chief Executive Officer Dr Sohail Asghar on September 7.
The criminal case followed the deaths of 20 children, most of them newborns, between June 16 and 22, 2025. Families had initially alleged medical negligence and an oxygen shortage at the hospital.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif ordered the arrest of the officials during an unannounced hospital visit on July 4, 2025. Later, a subsequent FIR included allegations under Sections 322 and 201 of the Pakistan Penal Code, concerning unintentional killing and disappearance of evidence.
Read: Maryam Nawaz Orders Arrests Over Pakpattan Hospital Infant Deaths
However, preliminary inquiries by provincial health authorities and the Sahiwal administration found that many critically ill newborns had been transferred from private maternity facilities or after deliveries handled by untrained midwives. Investigators also examined whether an oxygen shortage contributed to the deaths.
An earlier internal hospital inquiry found no link between the deaths and an oxygen shortage or negligence by doctors. However, the inquiry identified deficiencies in record-keeping. Therefore, external investigations were subsequently ordered.
The acquittal resolves the criminal proceedings against Ghaffar and Asghar covered by Monday’s verdict. However, the available judgment report does not itself establish a single medical cause for the 20 deaths.
