KARACHI: A sessions court has adjourned the hearing of cases against former Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Saleem Shahzad pertaining to rioting and intimidation. The cases were put off due to the absence of the judge. The case were fixed to record dispositions of prosecution witnesses in the cases. Earlier, the sessions judge had indicted the former MQM leader who pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the cases. The former MQM leader, who is out on bail, was arrested from the Jinnah International Airport upon his arrival. The court had earlier granted him against a surety bond of Rs500,000. The judge also called a report from the jail superintendent for not providing medical treatment to the applicant despite a court order. Saleem Shahzad was arrested shortly after landing at the Karachi airport from Dubai on February 6 this year and sent to prison the following day in a case pertaining to providing shelter and treatment to alleged terrorists at Dr Asim Hussain’s hospitals. Later, the court granted him bail in that case. However, he was not released as the police showed his arrest in four other cases lodged in the early 1990s and submitted that he was a proclaimed offender in the cases registered at Malir and Landhi police stations pertaining to kidnapping, wrongful confinement, criminal intimidation and rioting. Published in Daily Times, June 21st, 2017.