Graft case hearing against Dr Asim put off till July 5

The accountability court hearing corruption references against Dr Asim Hussain, Athar Hussain and others once again adjourned the proceedings in one of the trials on Tuesday till July 5.

After the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) failed to produce its prosecution witness against former federal petroleum minister Hussain and co-accused named in the reference of corruption of more than Rs462 billion, the court had to adjourn the hearing.

Earlier, the court was requested on behalf of NAB to grant some time to provide copies of the documents against the defendants. The court allowed the plea. Hussain is abroad and has been exempted from appearance till July 10.

Athar Hussain and other co-accused were present in the courtroom. However, the court preferred to adjourn the hearing due to absence of the prosecution witness. Dr Asim Hussain, who also a close aide to former president Asif Ali Zardari, is being tried in another reference along with former natural resources secretary Ejaz Chaudhry, Karachi Docks Labour Board’s former CEO Safdar Hussain, KDA’s ex-directors Syed Athar Hussain, and Masood Haider Jaffery, and Ziauddin Group Finance Director Abdul Hameed.

They are facing charges pertaining to a land fraud amounting to Rs9.5 billion, money laundering to the tune of Rs.3 billion, and misuse of authority and criminal breach of trust through fertilizer scam of Rs450 billion.

Dr Asim Hussain is also facing another reference over charges of committing corruption of around Rs17 billion. He is also facing a terrorism case in an anti-terrorism court along with leaders of different parties for having assisted some criminals and outlaws by providing them medical treatment at his hospitals. All the accused are on bail in all three cases.