Dr Asim’s co-accused not given documents,hearing put off till May 6

Karachi

Expected to be formally indicted on Monday, the hearing for corruption reference filed against Dr Asim Hussain and his accomplices was instead adjourned, till May 6, by an accountability court (AC) over one of the co-accused not having been provided with copies of the case documents.

Co-accused Akhtar Hussain was reportedly the one not provided with documents by the IO; the reference was pertaining to corruption of Rs462 billion. The court ordered to provide all those nominated in the case along with Dr Hussain with copies of the reference and other related case documents so the nature of their alleged crimes were known to them.

A close aide of former President and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Dr Hussain besides facing corruption charges but was also nominated in another cases pertaining to provision of shelter and medical treatment to criminals and terrorists at his hospital, on directives of various political leaders. The leaders included Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Waseem Akhtar, Rauf Siddiqui, now heading the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) Anees Qaimkhani and PPP’s Qadir Patel.

He was also stated to have illegally occupied government lands, committed a breach of trust and awarded contracts to his favourites during his stint as the petroleum minister from 2008-2013.

A former deputy managing director of the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) Shoaib Warsi, former managing director Zohair Siddiqui and others were also nominated in the corruption reference along with the petroleum minister.

He was picked up by Rangers personnel on August 26 from the office of the provincial Higher Education Commission (HEC) while he was heading a meeting. He stayed in the paramilitary force’ custody for 90 days under the preventive detention clause of the Pakistan Protection Act and was later handed over to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

After almost six months of being shifted from once investigate agency’s custody to the other, Dr Hussain was finally nominated references prepared by NAB. 

China-cutting cases

An accountability court (AC) fixed May 23 to hear cases pertaining to ‘china-cutting’ filed against former director of the Lines Area Settlement Project (LASP), Farid Yousufani and his co-accused Tufail Khan, Akhtari Begum, Nayab and others.

The absconding accused of the case were declared proclaimed offenders by the court under Section 87 of the Pakistan Penal Code. 

Yousfani, a relative of MQM dissident now heading the PSP, Anees Qaimkhani, was arrested by  NAB authorities in August last year. He was alleged to have occupied and sold lands illegally in Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Gulistan-e-Jauhar.

The same court also declared Mohammad Ahsan alias Chunnu Mamu, Mukhtar Hussain, Shah Muhammad Misbah and Abdul Wasih Khan as absconders and ordered to confiscate their movable and immovable properties.

The court had been issuing non-bailable arrest warrants against the same accused, but they were yet to be arrested by the IO.

 Former head of MQM’s Karachi Tanzeemi Committee (KTC) Hammad Siddiqui had already been declared a proclaimed offender in the case. He was suspended from the party following a reshuffle of the party after the 2013 general elections.

A charge-sheet against another accused of ‘China-cutting’ Faisal Masroor had already been submitted to an anti-terrorism court (ATC).

Siddiqui along with Ahsan, Shakir alias Langra and Saleem Qureshi was alleged to have made monetary transactions of huge sums to London in violation of the law. 

31-year imprisonment

An ATC awarded 31-year imprisonment to an activist of a certain political party, Ali Haider, convicted of being involved in terrorist activities.

The court noted that the prosecution had successfully proved charges of possession of illicit weapons and explosive materials against the man. He was also convicted of firing at police officials in 2014 to escape arrest; he was, however, later arrested the same year from Mehmoodabad following a police encounter.

The court observed that the convict deserved to face 31 years in prison due to the nature of his crimes.