Docus forged to obtain financial benefits unlawfully

KUWAIT CITY, May 6: Official spokesperson and Legal Affairs Department Director at the Public Authority for Disabled Affairs (PADA) Mubarak Al-Baddah said the Public Prosecution has ordered the re-investigation of 50 disability documents forgery cases, reports Al- Jarida daily. Al-Baddah informed the daily that the documents were forged in a bid to obtain financial benefits unlawfully, stressing that the authority is not complacent in recovering the amounts disbursed illegally.

He disclosed the recovery is done amicably by requiring those involved to pay the full amount or in monthly installments or by filing lawsuits. He said the authority has so far filed 299 such lawsuits, pointing out that a large amount has been recovered and the rest is in the process of being collected through lawsuits filed by the authority in coordination with the Legal Advice and Legislation Department.

He explained the authority usually determines the amounts that must be recovered and verifies them through the financial and legal departments, then it contacts the debtors – the disabled person or the one charge of his care or the heirs, if the disabled person is deceased – to return the illegally obtained amounts because they are public funds that are inviolable. He added that one of the important tasks of his department is following up such cases, in coordination with its legal advice and legislation counterpart. He revealed the total number of cases filed by or against the authority reached 7,968 as at the beginning of February and 3,522 of these cases were filed against the authority, which are still in courts. He stated the total number of final rulings on cases filed by the authority reached 4,147 and 2,866 of which were in favor of the authority and 1,281 against it.

He pointed out these figures mean the winning rate reached 70 percent – a high percentage which refutes the allegation that the authority is working against the interest of the disabled. Regarding the cases filed against the authority, Al-Baddah indicated that the most important is the cancellation of an administrative decision rejecting the resolutions of medical committees to reduce the degree of disability or removing someone from the disabled category. He cited the ruling of the Court of Cassation, which was used as precedent in similar cases against the authority; confirming that the competent medical technical committee in the concerned authority has the power to determine the type and degree of disability as per Handicapped Law number 8 of 2010. He also confirmed that the adoption of a new mechanism for issuing disability certificates largely addressed the issue of lack of appointments, especially for children and the elderly.