NAB opposes Dr Asim’s plea for bail in corruption cases

Bureau says ex-minister’s release on bail at this stage would seriously undermine prosecution’s case

Karachi                         

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Wednesday opposed an application of former federal minister Dr Asim Hussain seeking bail from the Sindh High Court in corruption references pertaining to land fraud, money laundering, misuse of authority and criminal breach of trust through a fertiliser scam.

Hussain, who is a close aide of former president Asif Ali Zardari and facing charges of corruption and providing medical treatment to suspected terrorists at his hospital, said in his plea NAB had instituted corruption references pertaining to illegal appointments in Sui Southern Gas Company and giving illegal gas connections to private companies and his own private hospitals out of political consideration. 

His counsel, Amir Raza Naqvi, sought urgency in the matter, saying a reference had been filed against his client in an accountability court and he would argue for his release on bail. He placed before the high court copies of statements of witnesses and the reference pending at the accountability court. 

The counsel said two co-accused of Hussain were already on interim bail, and asked that their cases be tagged with the petition.

The NAB counsel also filed comments on the petition, submitting that Hussain was arrested under the NAB Ordinance and the money laundering act over allegations of illegally occupying state land, fraud with public in the name of trust, illegal gains, kickback and commission through a fertilizer cartel for illegal and unjustified curtailment of gas for exploitive prices and black marketing in 2010 to 2012. 

The bureau said the custody of the petitioner was in the initial stage and his release on bail at this stage under the extraordinary jurisdiction would seriously prejudice the case of the prosecution.

It requested that Hussain was not entitled to bail and the petition be dismissed in the interest of justice. A division bench headed by Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi directed the office to tag the cases of the co-accused in the petition and adjourned the hearing of the case.  

JJVL reference

The Sindh High Court turned down a request of the co-accused in the Rs17.378 billion Jamshoro Joint Venture Limited corruption reference for staying indictment, and directed them to approach the trial court for granting a stay. 

The petitioners, Basharat A Mirza and Zahid Bakhtiar, who were former managing director and general manager of the Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDCL), sought supplies of documents of the corruption reference prior to indictment in the trial court.

Mirza, Iqbal Z Ahmed and ex-senior officials of the OGDCL and Sui Southern Gas Company were alleged;u involved in the multibillion-rupee corruption reference filed by the NAB against Dr Asim Hussain regarding the award of illegal contracts to the private gas company.

The counsel for the petitioners submitted that the trial court had to indict them in the reference; however, the documents of the reference were not being provided to them and a copy of an Islamabad High Court judgment was not attached with the documents of the case. 

They said the prosecution was hiding the judgment of the Islamabad High Court on the JJVL matter and did not make it part of the case. They requested the court to direct the trial court to supply copies of the case documents and restrain it from indicting the accused till then.

The NAB counsel submitted that documents of the case had been supplied to the accused, and suggested that the investigation officer be called along with the material so that the matter of the non-supply of some documents could be verified.

A division bench headed by Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi turned down the request for staying the indictment. It observed that the petitioners may file an application in the trial court regarding the framing of the charges, and adjourned the hearing till June 22.

NAB had filed a reference on March 5 this year regarding the illegal award of contracts to the JJVL. The investigators alleged that the private company was allowed to process gas from five fields in lower Sindh without conducting an open auction, signing agreements and other necessary procedures required in the law. Thus, it caused a loss of Rs17.338billion to the national exchequer.