Corruption case hearing put off till Sept 3 as ‘ill’ Dr Asim misses proceedings

Karachi

An accountability court hearing corruption cases against former petroleum minister, Dr Asim Hussain, on Wednesday adjourned proceedings till September 3 as the under-detention Pakistan Peoples Party leader was not present in court.

The court was informed on behalf of prison authorities that Dr Asim could not be brought in for yesterday’s hearing due to illness.

However, another accused, Safdar Hussain, was produced in court for the reference hearing that pertains to charges of massive corruption – an estimated Rs462 billion – against Dr Asim Hussain and others.

It is alleged that Ziauddin Hospital, owned by Dr Asim Hussain, was not a charity welfare organisation as claimed by the management, and in reality the hospital was a commercial venture.

A witness had claimed that it could be easily proved from the audit reports that the hospital was a purely commercial venture. 

The court has been told that the hospital’s audit reports and financial statements from 2010 to 2014 were handed over to officials of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

On May 6, the AC had indicted Dr Asim Hussain along with five others in Rs462 billion corruption cases.

Dr Asim, a close aide to former president Asif Ali Zardari, is also facing charges of providing medical treatment to and harbouring terrorists and outlaws, along with other political leaders of different parties.

He along with Mayor Waseem Akhtar, MQM leader Rauf Siddiqui, Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) leader Anees Qaimkhani, PPP leader Qadir Patel, Pakistan Pasban leader Usman Moazzam and others is being tried before an anti-terrorism court (ATC).