Daily Times

KARACHI: The bail applications of Dr Asim Hussain, a leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party and close aide of former president Asif Zardari, were referred to a referee judge for disposal after the two-member bench of Sindh High Court could not reach a consenting order.

Dr Asim was booked in two corruption cases for allegedly depriving the public exchequer of Rs 462 million by misusing his authority to get land allotted illegally, encroaching upon the state land for expansion of Dr Ziauddin Hospital, money laundering and receiving kickbacks.

The PPP leader, who has been behind bars since Aug 08, 2015, had filed the applications through his counsel seeking bail in the cases.

A member bench, comprising of Justice Muhammad Farooq Shah and Muhammad Karim Khan Agha, had earlier reserved its verdict on the bail applications.

The two judges issued a split order, deferring from each other in their decisions.

Justice Shah granted bail to Dr Asim subject to furnishing solvent surety of Rs 2.5 million in each case and PR bond of the like amount to the satisfaction f Nazir of the court.

He directed the applicant to deposit his original passport with the Nazir and directed the ministry of interior not to issue fresh passport to him until further orders of this court and to place his name the Exit Control List (ECL).

Justice Shah observed that the ailment which the petitioner is suffering from is such that cannot be properly treated within the premises of jail and some specialized treatment is needed. Dr Asim’s continued detention in jail was likely to affect his capacity and was hazardous to his life.

The right to life in particular has been expanded in recent times by the courts to adapt to the changing needs of society, the judge observed. While citing one of the present cases in which even charge was not framed yet, he said that the NAB cases in which multiple accused are involved usually take exceedingly long time to be decided.

Justice Shah said that allowing someone to remain confined for long years despite the fact that confinement was hazardous to his life as proper and adequate treatment was not available in jail lead him to being permanently physically or mentally impaired. “Moreover, if he is exonerated of the charge after the years of confinement he is released after undergoing punishment.”

Justice Agha rejected the bail applications, observing that the prosecution indeed has succeeded in establishing a case of dismissal of the bail under the relevant provision of National Accountability Ordinance 1999 and within ambits of Section 497(i) CrPC. “The applicant being a senior doctor provided excellent treatment and hospitalization on recommendation of medical board.”

The judge noted, “Perusal of the record revealed that the offence committed by the accused person was a crime against the society as a whole in connection with the public offices and he is not involved in an ordinary criminal matter and his case was the exception as prima facie there is material on record to connect him with the commission of offences.”

The prosecution pointed out that Dr Asim was receiving proper treatment from reputed senior doctors in renowned hospitals of the country, he said, adding that there was no compelling reason for me to enlarge bail on the applicant at this stage when he is facing serious charges. “This case don’t fall within the ambits of the provision of Section 497 CrPC. Consequently bail is declined.”

He ruled that the trial court is expected to expedite the trial and decide the references at an earliest, preferably, within four months by recording the depositions of all material witnesses on day to day basis under intimation to this court.

Earlier Dr Asim’s lawyer had contended that ailing PPP leader was already granted bail in another case on the medical grounds. He had been behind bars for last one and half year and was seriously ill. He was shifted to the ICU of the NICVD due to a sudden heart ailment.

The counsel said that according to the medical board constituted to examine the health of his client the PPP leader had lower back pain and needed to undergo disc surgery.

He pleaded the judges to grant his client bail so that he could get proper medical treatment.

The NAB’s prosecutor opposed the bail plea and submitted that Dr Asim was being provided suitable medical treatment. The PPP leader was facing grave charges and thus, he was not entitled to such relief.

The NAB reference alleged that Dr Asim misused his authority to get allotted land illegally, encroached upon the state land for expansion of Dr Ziauddin Hospital. He was also involved in money laundering and receiving kickbacks.

Other accused who are facing charges are former petroleum secretary Muhammad Ejaz Chaudhry, administrator of Ziauddin Medical Centre, Dubai Abdul Hameed, former directors of the Karachi Development Authority Syed Athar Hussain and Masod Haider and Karachi Dock Labour Board’s former chief executive officer Safdar Hussain.

Dr Asim Hussain is also facing another reference for illegally awarding multi-billion gas processing contracts to Jamshoro Joint Venture Limited and thus embezzling Rs 17 billion.

According to the NAB, the accused allowed the JJVL to process gas at different gas fields without conducting an open auction, signing agreements and memorandums of understanding as required by law, thus causing a loss of Rs 17.4 billion to the national exchequer.

Other accused included SSGC managing director Khalid Rehman and former officials Zuhair Siddiqui, Azeem Iqbal, Shoaib Warsi, Yusuf Jamil Ansari and Malik Usman, OGDCL former managing director Basharat Mirza and official, Zahid Bakhtiar and JJVL chief executive officer, Iqbal Z Ahmed.