ISLAMABAD – The deadly PIMS nursery fire claimed 14 newborn lives and it triggered major shake-up in the federal health setup, with the government handing ministry’s top bureaucratic post to a senior officer whose own career was once rocked by high-profile corruption case.
Capt (r) Muhammad Mahmood has been given additional charge of Secretary National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination soon after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif suspended Health Secretary Muhammad Aslam Ghauri following the tragedy at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences.
Mahmood, Pakistan Administrative Service officer currently serving as Secretary Housing and Works Division, will retain additional health portfolio for three months or until a regular secretary is appointed, whichever comes earlier. The Establishment Division issued the notification under Section 10 of the Civil Servants Act, 1973.
The appointment comes as the government faces mounting pressure to uncover the circumstances behind the PIMS fire and address questions over safety standards, building regulations and enforcement at public hospitals. A high-level committee has already been constituted to investigate the incident.
Bureaucrat with Controversial Past
Mahmood’s return to centre of a major government crisis drawn attention because of his involvement in the Rawalpindi Ring Road controversy.
In 2021, the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment arrested Mahmood, who was then a former commissioner of Rawalpindi Division, over alleged irregularities linked to the Ring Road project. Land Acquisition Collector Abbas Tabish was also arrested in the case.
ACE Director General Gohar Nafees said investigators had registered a case following an inquiry into the project. According to the allegations, the Ring Road alignment had been altered without approval from the Punjab chief minister, while required no-objection certificates from the Capital Development Authority and National Highway Authority had allegedly not been obtained.
Mahmood served as Commissioner Rawalpindi Division from December 2019 and was removed from the post in 2021 amid the controversy.
The controversy did not end Mahmood’s administrative career. He later received relief in the proceedings, with reports in 2022 stating that Mahmood and 12 other bureaucrats had been acquitted.
A subsequent inquiry reportedly found that the original fact-finding process had implicated Mahmood and other officials without adequately hearing their side of the matter.
Over the years, Mahmood served at several senior positions, including Secretary of Punjab’s Higher Education Department. In June 2026, he was appointed Secretary Housing and Works Division.
PIMS report reveals how nursery fire spread rapidly, killing newborns
