Daily Times

KARACHI: Dr Asim Hussain, a former petroleum minister and close aide of PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Rauf Siddiqui of Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Anis Qaimkhani of the Pak Sarzameen Party and a Pasban-e-Pakistan leader were finally granted bail by the Sindh High Court in a case related to treating and harboring of suspected terrorists at Dr Asim’s hospital.

A division bench headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar approved the bail for the applicants against the surety bond of Rs 500,000 each. It asked them to deposit their passports in the anti-terrorism court.

The court restrained Dr Asim and other applicants from leaving the country without permission of the trial court. The bench observed that considerable time had lapsed, but still the trial court had not framed charges against the accused persons.

It directed the trial court to conclude the trial within period of two months and cautioned it not to exceed that period.

Dr Asim, the MQM’s Karachi Mayor Waseem Akhtar and Rauf Siddiqui, the Pakistan People’s Party’s Abdul Qadir Patel, and Anis Qaimkhani, Usman Moazzam of Pasban-e-Pakistan had moved the high court seeking their release on bail.

During the hearing, Barrister Sardar Abdul Latif Khosa, who represented Dr Asim, argued that the case lacked legal ground as it was registered on the basis of the joint investigation team (JIT) report. The investigation officer had recommended dropping the charges against Dr Asim but the administrative judge of the anti-terrorism courts rejected his report.

He said that Dr Asim’s life was in danger as he was seriously ill. The eight-member medical board, constituted by the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), had advised surgery for him. He pleaded the judges to grant bail to his client on the medical grounds.

Special public prosecutor Ayaz Tunio did not oppose the grant of bail to Dr Asim on Medical grounds.

The investigation officer contended that the bills regarding the treatment of suspected outlaws at Dr Asim’s hospital were fake and fabricated as the hospital’s staff had denied having issued such bills.

Advocate Sajjid Mehbob Shaikh, the counsel for Rangers, opposed the bail pleas, contending that the target killers who got injured during the encounters with the law enforcement agencies were brought to the hospital for treatment. There were 330 FIRs registered against those who were treated at his hospital, he added.

Rauf Siddiqui’s lawyer contended that the investigation officer had recorded the statements of 19 witnesses but no witness had deposed against his client. The counsel for Anis Qaimkhani said that the investigation officer had not mentioned the names of any injured or suspect who allegedly got treated at the hospital on the instructions from his client.

The bail applications were referred to the bench comprising Justice Mazhar and Abdul Malik Gadi for hearing after the fourth bench had declined to proceed with the matter.

Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto was the fourth judge who rescued himself from the bench seized with hearing of the bail petitions when Barrister Khosa had raised an objection that he had rejected the application of his client seeking his release when he was the administrative judge of the anti-terrorism courts.

Subsequently, the matter was referred to the SHC chief justice for fixing it before another bench for hearing.

Earlier on September 21, 2016, Justice Ahmed Ali M Shaikh, who is a senior pusine judge, had refused to hear the bail applications and the matter was referred to the chief justice for assigning it to another bench. However, when the matter was fixed for hearing, the other member of bench had refused to be the part it and the matter was again referred to the SHC chief justice.

Police had registered an FIR on the complaint of a Rangers officer accusing Dr Asim of treating and harbouring suspected terrorists associated with MQM and Lyari gang at his hospital.

Dr Asim was alleged to have done all this on the instructions from MQM leaders Waseem Akhtar, Rauf Siddiqui, Anis Qaimkhani and PPP leader Qadir Patel.

Dr Asim was picked up from by the Rangers and was placed under preventive detention for investigation under Section 11-EEEE of the Anti-terrorism Act, 1997 in August last year.