Hearing of Dr Asim graft case adjourned till 25th

Former minister misses hearing due to ill health

An accountability court adjourned on Friday a corruption reference against Dr Asim Hussain till February 25 on his attorney’s request.

Dr Asim was not produced before the court because of his illness. The court expressed its displeasure over the failure of the case’s investigation officer to declare an absconding accused, Azeem Iqbal, a proclaimed offender.

The court ordered the officer to not delay the process. Two other accused, Zohaib Siddiqui and Shoaib Warsi, were present in the court.

They said the Jamshoro Joint Venture Limited, a private company, was allowed to process gas from five fields in lower Sindh without conducting an open auction or signing agreements and without following other mandatory procedures.

Advocate Anwar Mansoor Khan argued that none of the then ministers concerned who had dealt with JJVL were nominated in the corruption reference. He added that Hussain had not signed any contract so he was innocent of all allegations.

He added that a contract for gas processing in Badin was signed in 2000 and at that time Hussain was not the petroleum minister; hence, there was no case against him.

Khan said the same matter in Badin was still being dealt with the current minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, but no case was filed against him.

The court then adjourned the hearing until February 20, but on Monday the case came up before the court and the lawyer prayed to the court to adjourn hearing as Dr Asim could not be produced because of his illness.

Ex-DIG corruption case

An accountability court indicted former DIG Deen Muhammad Baloch and other accused in a case pertaining to corruption of over Rs17 billion.

The accused, however, denied the charges and pleaded not guilty. The court then ordered the prosecution to produce its witnesses at the next hearing. The three co-accused in the case, Arif Memon, Ghulam Akbar Memon and Murad Baloch, have obtained interim bail.

Baloch faces charges of illegally making around Rs17 billion and purchasing properties in the name of his family members including the three co-accused.

 

Protest

The employees at the City Courts building affiliated with the prosecution department staged a strike for the sixth consecutive working day against their low salaries.