High Court strikes off doctor
A doctor who repeatedly drove while disqualified, uninsured, or under the influence of alcohol or drugs has had his medical registration cancelled following a ruling in the High Court.
Dr Syed Waqas Ali Bukhari, a former surgical registrar at Cavan General Hospital, was struck off after the High Court upheld a sanction recommended by the Medical Council’s Fitness to Practise Committee. The committee had found that Bukhari’s conduct amounted to professional misconduct of an “entirely outrageous and disgraceful character”.
The court heard that Bukhari, who worked in Ireland between 2018 and 2022, and was living in the Butlersbridge area, accumulated multiple road traffic convictions over a number of years, including drink-driving, drug-driving, driving uninsured, and while already disqualified. In total, he was found to have committed at least eight separate driving offences, several of which involved alcohol or a controlled substances.
The Fitness to Practise Committee concluded that the Pakistani-native’s behaviour demonstrated a “reckless disregard for the lives and safety of other road users and the laws of this country”. It also found that the former Cavan hospital medic had continued to drive despite previous convictions.
He subsequently lodged an appeal against the convictions, but never showed up to court.
Medical Council chief executive Maria O’Kane told the inquiry that the case came to light after discrepancies were identified on an annual retention form, on which Bukhari disclosed a conviction for “careless drink driving without insurance”. Further investigation revealed additional offences.
The inquiry, conducted over four days, also examined allegations that Bukhari had driven while disqualified.
The Medical Council’s case was brought by solicitor Sinead Taaffe of Fieldfisher.
Bukhari did not engage with the earlier disciplinary proceedings. Evidence presented to the court last week indicated that he had left Ireland in or around 2023. He is currently believed to be practising medicine back in Pakistan.
High Court President Judge David Barniville confirmed the cancellation of Bukhari’s registration, describing the sanction as “entirely appropriate, proper and proportionate”. He also imposed a three-year restriction preventing any application for restoration to the Irish medical register.
The Fitness to Practise Committee meanwhile said cancellation was the only measure sufficient to protect the public, stressing that no lesser sanction would adequately reflect the seriousness of Bukari’s conduct or the risk it posed.
It added that such behaviour was particularly serious for a medical professional, stating it was “dangerous, reckless, antisocial and disgraceful”, and risked bringing the profession into disrepute.