Dr Asim, Qadir Patel cleared of charges as ATC accepts govt plea for case withdrawal

Two former federal ministers, Dr Asim Hussain and Abdul Qadir Patel, along with four other leaders, were cleared of the charges of harbouring and treatment of alleged terrorists and gangsters as an anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Saturday allowed the Sindh government to withdraw the eight-year-old case against them.

Dr Asim, a close aide of PPP Co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari, had been charged with treating and harbouring terror suspects, including political militants and gangsters, at the North Nazimabad and Clifton branches of his private hospital at the behest of politicians, including Abdul Qadir Patel, the MQM-P’s Anis Qaimkhani, former Karachi mayor Wasim Akhtar, Rauf Siddiqui and Pasban leader Usman Moazzam.

The provincial government, through special public prosecutor, Muhammad Younus, had in February moved an application before the ATC-II judge, seeking its permission to withdraw the case citing lack of material to corroborate the charges against the politicians. The plea came at a time when the court was recording statements of the accused.

On Saturday, the judge pronounced his order reserved after hearing arguments on the application, granting the government’s request to withdraw the case.

Talking to The News, SPP Mohammad Younus said all the accused have been acquitted of the charges with the acceptance of the plea regarding the withdrawal of the case.

The application was moved under Section 494 of the Criminal Procedure Code read with Section 9-A(3)(III) of the Sindh Criminal Prosecution Service (Constitution, Function & Power) Act, 2009.

According to Section 494, “Any Public Prosecutor may, with the consent of the Court, before the judgment is pronounced, withdraw from the prosecution of any person either generally or in respect of any one or more of the offences for which he is tried; and upon such withdrawal -- (a) if it is made before a charge has been framed, the accused shall be discharged in respect of such offence or offences; (b) if it is made after a charge has been framed, or when under this Code no charge is required, he shall be acquitted in respect of such offence or offences.”

The SPP had informed the judge that the Sindh government intended to withdraw the case against all the accused persons and sought the court’s permission for this purpose. He placed on record a letter dated February 16 written to Sindh Prosecutor General Faiz Shah by the home department giving the go-ahead to the proposal for the withdrawal of the case with the consent of the court. The prosecutor said there was no material on record which might result in the conviction of the accused.

Dr Asim was arrested by the Rangers from his office in Clifton in August 2015. He was kept under three-month preventive detention for investigation under Section-11 EEEE of the Anti-Terrorism Act before being handed over to police after the registration of a case against him and others for allegedly harbouring, facilitating and treating terrorists.

The FIR was lodged at the North Nazimabad police station under sections 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence or giving false information to screen offender), 202 (intentional omission to give information of offence by person bound to inform), 216 (harbouring offender who has escaped from custody whose apprehension has been ordered), 216-A (harbouring robbers or dacoits), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant or banker, merchant or agent) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with various sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.