Daily Times

KARACHI: Dr Asim Hussain, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader and close aide of former president Asif Zardari, on Wednesday approached the Sindh High Court (SHC) requesting it to removal his name from the Exit Control List (ECL) so that he could travel abroad for medical treatment.

Dr Asim, who has been facing charges of corruption of Rs 470 billion as well as harbouring and treating terrorists at his hospital, was granted bail by the SHC last month. The court had also included his name in ECL and directed the Ministry of Interior not to issue him fresh or duplicate passport.

He petitioned the high court submitting that a medical board had recommended that he needed spinal surgery abroad. The petition would likely be taken up by the court in a few days’ time, Dr Asim’s counsel said.

The close aide of former president Asif Ali Zardari was released from a sub-jail set up for him at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre on March 31, after spending a little over 19 months in detention.

Dr Asim has been facing corruption charges that he had allegedly deprived the public exchequer of Rs 462.5 billion by misusing his powers as the petroleum minister. One reference filed against him by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) charged him with allegations of money laundering, public fraud and land scam.

In another reference, NAB had alleged that a private company was allowed to process gas from five fields in lower Sindh without conducting an open auction, incurring a huge loss of Rs 17.34 billion to the national exchequer. The total loss caused by Dr Asim in both the references is Rs 479.84 billion, the NAB maintained.

Dr Asim, who was serving as chairman of the Sindh Higher Education Commission, was picked up by Rangers personnel on Aug 26, 2015 for his alleged involvement in offences falling within the ambit of Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.