NAB denied custody of Dr Asim Hussain

Court grants 12-day judicial remand after counsel argues the authority had not been able to produce enough evidence; NBWs against MQM chief, other leaders issued again

Karachi

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was on Tuesday denied the custody of Dr Asim Hussain by an accountability court (AC) and was instead to remain under judicial remand for 12 days, at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC).

He was denied the custody after his attorneys argued that the investigative authority had completed its investigation and had been unable to produce any evidence.

He was to appear in court following the expiration of the remand.

Having remained in the custody of the Rangers and police officials since his detention, in August 26 last year, the minister was handed over to NAB authorities on December 11.

He was arrested, while he was chairing a meeting of the provincial Higher Education Commission (HEC), on charges of having committed corruption during his tenure as the federal minister for petroleum during the Pakistan Peoples Party’s 2008-13 government, and was also accused of facilitating terrorists and providing them medical treatment at his hospitals.

He was claimed to have provided treatment to the terrorists on the behest of a number of senior political leaders belonging to different parties. Those named, included Waseem Akhtar, Rauf Siddiqui, Anis Qaimkhani, Haider Abbas Rizvi and Saleem Shehzad of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Qadir Patel of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pasban chief Usman Moazzam.

Siddiqui, Akhtar and Rizvi were granted a pre-arrest interim bail in the case, whereas Moazzam was in the custody of the Rangers.

He was admitted to the JPMC for medical treatment, on January 20, on the orders of the anti-terrorism court (ATC) - where the hearing of charges pertaining to facilitating terrorists was being held.

NBW out for MQM chief

An ATC issued non-bailable arrest warrants against MQM chief Altaf Hussain, and other leaders including Dr Farooq Sattar and Wasay Jalil in a case pertaining to a controversial speech delivered by Hussain.

According to a police report presented in the court, Rauf Siddiqui and Waseem Akhtar had obtained interim pre-arrest bail in the case while others ‘had gone into hiding’.

Upon this plea the court issued NBWs for the arrest of party chief, Dr Sattar, Jalil and others.

The prosecution had argued that the MQM chief in his speech delivered on July 12, last year had accused the Sindh Rangers director general and his subordinates of violating the code of conduct of the army during the Karachi operation.

Others, against whom the cases were registered included Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Qamar Mansoor, Nasreen Jalil, Rashid Godil, Rehan Hashmi, Kaiful Wara and Khawaja Izharul Hasan.

They were accused of having made arrangements for the speech as well as hailed the party chief, while addressing MQM workers, as he strongly criticised the country’s armed forces.

Over 100 cases were registered at different police stations under Sections 120-B (punishment for criminal conspiracy), 121 (waging or attempting to wage war or abetting waging of war against Pakistan), 122 (collection of arms, etc. with intention of waging war against Pakistan), 123-A (condemnation of the creation of state and advocacy of abolition of its sovereignty) and 109 (common intention) of Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 of the Anti-terrorism Act, 1997 and Section 25-D of the Telegraph Act.