Arrest warrants for Gilani, Amin Fahim issued

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: The Federal Anti-Corruption Court (FACC), headed by Muhammad Azeem, on Thursday issued non-bailable arrest warrants for former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and former federal minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim. Both are senior leaders of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
They are alleged to have their involvement in the misuse of huge funds of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP).
The senior PPP leaders are accused of being involved in approving and disbursing fraudulent trade subsidies of millions of rupees to several fake companies through fictitious claims and backdated cheques. The court had issued some months back the warrants for the two leaders but later they had obtained interim bail. The two were directed by the trial court to keep on appearing before the court. Yet the two leaders had failed to regularly attend the hearings.
The FIA that presented the charge sheets against Gilani, Fahim and others in 12 cases related to the TDAP corruption scandal termed the two senior politicians absconders. Upon this plea, the court accepted the charge sheet and ordered to arrest the two accused and produce them in the court by September 10.
Earlier, Dr Asim Hussain, former adviser to PM on Petroleum and National Resources and federal minister and a close aide of PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, was produced before an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Thursday that remanded him to the Rangers custody for 90 days.
Dr Asim was arrested on Wednesday by the Rangers and was shifted to some unknown place to probe corruption charges. He is said to have his involvement in illegal occupation of government lands and embezzlement of huge funds during his tenure as adviser to the PPP government. Dr Asim Hussain, who is the chairman of the provincial Higher Education Commission, is also believed to be involved in providing assistance to some outlaws who were involved in terrorist activities.
When Dr Asim Hussain was produced before the judge of the ATC-III, the law officer for the Rangers presented an apprehension order issued under Section 11-EEEE of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 that empowered the paramilitary force to arrest and detain any suspect under Section 11-EEEE of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.
The court endorsed the order justifying the 90-day preventive detention of Dr Asim Hussain. On the other hand, the mother of Dr Asim filed a petition in the Sindh High Court (SHC) challenging the arrest. The petition said that Dr Asim was an esteemed politician and had no any criminal record. The petition termed the detention unlawful.
Dr Asim is alleged to have his involvement in illegal occupation of the government land in North Nazimabad and Clifton for the extension of his Dr Ziauddin Hospital. Dr Asim is also being interrogated for allegedly misusing authority when he was the petroleum adviser during the PPP government after the 2008 general election.
In 2009, he was elected senator from Sindh on a PPP ticket. He served as the minister of petroleum and natural resources and then the prime minister’s adviser with the same portfolio until 2012.
After the 2013 general elections, when the PPP government was formed in Sindh, Dr Asim was appointed as the provincial HEC chairman. Dr Asim is also said to have close ties with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s leadership.
Though, at the time of production of Dr Asim Hussain by the Rangers in ATC-III, the family of the detainee was not allowed to see him, the ATC judge later granted permission to the family to meet the detainee.
According to the Rangers’ law officer, a meeting of the members of the family would be arranged at the Meetha Ram Hospital. Dr Zareen, the wife of Dr Asim, has taken the plea that her husband suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure and relied on medication. Two petitions (by the mother and the wife) have been filed in the SHC challenging the detention of Dr Asim Hussain. Dr Zareen also wrote a letter to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Sindh, stating that her husband suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure and relied on medication. She had asked for the permission to meet Dr Asim in order to monitor his health condition.
Advocate Maulvi Iqbal Haider, representing the petitioner (filed by the wife), prayed to the court to issue directives for the release of Dr Asim who, according to him, was innocent as he had not violated any law.
Meanwhile, the Sindh High Court (SHC) turned down the request of former federal minister Dr Asim Hussain’s family for shifting the terror suspect to a hospital for treatment. However, the court directed the DG Rangers to provide medical facilities to Asim Hussain.
Asim Hussain’s spouse Dr Zareen Hussain filed an application before the Chief Justice of Sindh High Court Justice Faisal Arab for providing medical facilities for her spouse following his preventive detention order by the Anti-Terrorism Court.
The application was later converted into a petition and referred to the court for hearing. The applicant, along with her counsel Abid S Zuberi, appeared before the court and submitted that Dr Asim was suffering from serious ailment and required medical attention in the hospital and, therefore, he might be shifted to hospital for treatment.
Sources said that the SHC’s division bench, headed by Justice Sajjad Ali Shah that heard the matter in his chamber, turned down the request of the applicant on the shifting of the detainee to a hospital. However, the court directed the DG Rangers to provide medical facilities to the terror suspect as per the law.
The court, while issuing a notice to the DG Rangers for August 31, also asked the counsel for the applicant to satisfy the court on maintainability of the petition when the detainee was already remanded to the Rangers custody by the anti-terrorism court.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah warned if the PPP Co-chairman and former president Asif Ali Zardari was apprehended, it would be tantamount to initiating a war.
Talking to newsmen at the Parliament House after chairing the PAC meeting, Khursheed said: “The PPP is being pushed to the wall,” adding, “Does corruption exist in Karachi only?”
He said the government should make a decision whether it wanted to keep the country intact or destabilize it. He said a particular province was being targeted and shattered on purpose. “Has corruption been eliminated in the Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa?”
He said the Pakistan People’s Party would fight repression in a democratic way within parliament.
“The government must realise that political parties are their aides and nothing can be achieved by force,” he added.
The opposition leader said the PPP was being strangled but it did not want to weaken parliament. He criticised the government saying whatever actions were being taken by the authorities were restricted to Sindh.
He said Chairman Sindh Higher Education Commission (HEC) Dr Asim Hussain must be interrogated first before any legal proceedings. “A grey trafficking case is being compiled against Raja Pervez Ashraf and the government should be ashamed of handcuffing PPP’s ex-Punjab president Qasim Zia,” he said. He said the PPP was ready to hold talks with Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.
To a question, he said the PPP did not want to weaken parliament and will continue to struggle through this august institution.
The opposition leader said parliament’s forum should be used to solve the issue of Election Commission of Pakistan’s controversial officials. He criticised the ECP members saying that they should step down for their disgraceful actions.
However, he made it clear that the PPP would not participate in the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s sit-in seeking resignations of ECP officials.
To another question, he said the army chief General Raheel Sharif should have called Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Governor Ishratul Ebad Khan in a meeting on peace in Karachi.
Khursheed said the Indian intelligence agencyResearch and Analysis Wing (RAW) had penetrated Sindh and Balochistan totally.