Dr Asim’s acquittal plea dismissed in Rs460bn corruption reference

An accountability court on Monday dismissed an application of former federal minister and Pakistan Peoples Party leader Dr Asim Hussain seeking acquittal in an over Rs460 billion corruption reference.

Dr Asim, along with former petroleum secretary Muhammad Ejaz Chaudhry, former Karachi Dock Labour Board (KDLB) chief executive officer Safdar Hussain and former Karachi Development Authority directors Syed Athar Hussain and Masood Haider Jaffri, was charged with misusing his authority to fraudulently get plots allotted, encroaching upon state land for his hospital’s expansion, laundering money, receiving commission through a fertiliser cartel for illegally curtailing gas for exploitative price hike and committing fraud with the public at large in the name of a charity hospital.

The former federal minister had moved an application before the Accountability Court No IV judge seeking his acquittal in the reference in the wake of the amendments to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) law.

On Monday, the judge announced his order after hearing arguments from both the prosecution and defence sides. He adjourned the hearing of the case until March 21 when the court would record statements of the accused.

The applicant's lawyer, Amir Raza Naqvi, contended that no case had been made out against his client in the wake of the National Accountability (Amendment) Act 2022, nor was any incriminating evidence, including documentary evidence, available on record to corroborate the allegations levelled against him.

He, therefore, pleaded with the court to exonerate Dr Asim from all the charges. Meanwhile, the NAB prosecutor argued that the application was not maintainable at this stage of the trial when the prosecution had already closed its side and statements of the accused were to be recorded. He said there was sufficient documentary as well as oral evidence to prove the charges against Dr Asim.

The court was requested to dismiss the application. In September last year, the court had dismissed a similar application filed by accused Safdar who had sought return of the reference to the bureau or his acquittal in the case under the National Accountability (Amendment) Act 2022. The court had in May 2016 indicted Dr Asim and others in the reference.

According to the reference, the former petroleum minister misused his authority and fraudulently got plots allotted and even encroached upon government lands in order to expand the Dr Ziauddin Hospital. The trust allegedly got illegal gains, committed money laundering and received kickbacks unlawfully.

Dr Asim is also facing charges of receiving huge commissions from a fertiliser cartel because of an ‘exploitative price hike’, and the prosecution accused him of being a black-marketer who committed fraud with the public in the name of a charity hospital.