Dr Asim Hussain to be tried in ATC

Court rubbishes police report clearing ex-minister of terror charges

KARACHI:

The Sindh government has apparently failed to secure the release of Dr Asim Hussain despite appointing a new prosecutor. On Monday, the court rejected the police investigation report clearing the former minister of terrorism charges and ordered his re-arrest for a trial in an anti-terrorism court (ATC).

Sindh High Court’s Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto, who oversees the ATCs, discarded the report observing there was sufficient evidence against Dr Asim. He then ordered the suspect to be presented before the ATC-II for initiating the trial on Tuesday (today).

Dr Asim, chairman of the Sindh Higher Education Commission and a friend of former president Asif Ali Zardari, is facing charges of abetting and harbouring terrorists at his family-owned hospitals in Karachi.

After spending 90 days in the custody of paramilitary Rangers, who detained him on August 26, he was handed over to the Karachi police for further interrogation. The police, however, relieved him of the charges and got him released, sparking a tussle between the federal and provincial governments.

At the outset of the hearing on Monday, investigation officer DSP Altaf Hussain submitted the final report terming the case ‘Class-A’ under Section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). He claimed he could not find any evidence against the suspect, whom he had already released under Section 497(2) of the CrPC.

The newly appointed special public prosecutor, Nisar Ahmed Durrani, who has taken over the case controversially, also seconded the IO. He said Dr Asim was released appropriately on bail by the police officer as no case under the anti-terrorist act was made out.

Habib Ahmed, the Rangers counsel, opposed the Class-A report, contending there was enough evidence against the suspect of providing medical treatment to terrorists. He relied upon the documents seized from the Ziauddin Hospital and referred to the findings of the joint interrogation team, which interrogated Dr Asim during his 90-day detention.

Habib said the witnesses’ statements were on record. Dr Yusuf Sattar, Dr Asim’s deputy at Ziauddin hospital, had testified several terrorists associated with political and religious outfits were given medical attention.

The defence counsel, Anwar Mansoor Khan and Amer Raza Naqvi, argued the statement of Dr Yusuf was obtained forcibly and the hospital record was tampered with as the paramilitary soldiers took it away at gunpoint.

Anwar referred to laws relating to providing treatment to injured people and asserted that nothing wrong was done. He also contended the paramilitary force, under the special powers of Section 11EEEE of the Anti-Terrorism Act, had a specific domain related to terrorism cases. He questioned how Rangers could look into issues such as land grabbing and corruption.

Anwar believed some personnel wanted to please their high-ups to gain promotions and concluded his argument by referring to the judgment of a case from 1969 involving the government and a woman.

Then Dr Asim himself asked the judge for a minute to speak. The ex-minister complained about his negative portrayal in the media, claiming false accusations had been brought up against him.

Justice Phulpoto stated in the order: “Prima facie there is sufficient incriminating material on record connecting Dr Asim and other accused in the case.”


Published in The Express Tribune, December 22^nd, 2015.