SHC declines to hear Dr Asim’s bail plea

His daughter had filed a petition seeking a post-arrest bail

KARACHI: A Sindh High Court (SHC) bench declined on Monday to proceed with applications seeking an impartial inquiry into the corruption case against former federal minister Dr Asim Hussain and his release on bail till the completion of such inquiries.

Declining to proceed with the matter, Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto ordered that the matter may be placed before any other bench of which he is not a member.

Justice Phulpoto, head of the bench who, being the SHC's administrative judge of the anti-terrorism courts, had granted Dr Asim's custody to police, declined to proceed with the matter. On November 30, he had extended the physical custody of Dr Asim with the police by a week and also allowed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) investigators to file an application to interrogate him in a corruption case.



Last week, Dr Ejaz Fatima, Dr Asim's mother, sought an independent investigation into allegations of corruption and harbouring terrorists against her son. She alleged that the Rangers had denied her son the opportunity to meet his family and lawyer during his 90-day detention. Dr Fatima also alleged that her son was kept in a dungeon without any light or electricity so as to torture him and extract a false statement from him.

Her lawyer, Anwar Mansoor Khan, said despite the transfer of his custody to police, a large number of paramilitary soldiers, who were also complainants in the case against the former minister, were deployed at the police station. In the Rangers presence an independent investigation cannot be made by the police, he claimed. Khan also apprehended that Dr Asim's custody might be given back to the Rangers, saying if this was done an impartial inquiry would not be possible.

Bail plea

Filing a miscellaneous application, Nida Faizan, Dr Asim's daughter, had pleaded to the court to allow the release of her father on post-arrest bail, as cases against him still needed inquiry. She had objected to NAB's request as it was not supported by an authorization letter from NAB authorities, as is mandatory under Section 24-D of the NAB Ordinance 1999.

"This is also a violation of Article 10-A of the Constitution, which means the petitioner has been deprived of his right to fair trial," her lawyer, Amir Raza Naqvi, had argued.

It was argued that all over the world investigating agencies initiate inquiries on the basis of available evidence, which is credible, but in Dr Asim's case the investigating agencies have thus far failed to place any such credible evidence on record.

Naqvi pointed out that the criminal case regarding treating injured criminals at the Dr Ziauddin Hospital lacked substantive material to support the memo of arrest, which provides that there is no evidence against Dr Asim.

The court was pleaded to grant post-arrest bail to Dr Asim and order his release till inquiries into the criminal and corruption cases were completed and supported by credible evidence.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 8^th,  2015.