Refuge at last: Medical board wants Dr Asim admitted

NAB takes former minister back into custody after medical examination

KARACHI: The anti-terrorism court (ATC)-II was informed on Tuesday that former federal minister Dr Asim Hussain is being examined by the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) on the orders of another court.

The administrative judge of accountability courts, Saad Qureshi, had directed on Monday the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), which has physical custody of the suspect in a corruption case, to present Dr Asim before the JPMC director and admit him there, if so advised.

The JPMC has allotted a private room to Dr Asim and has constituted a medical board after his check-up on the order of the accountability court. The five-member team, including Dr Syed Haroon Ahmed, Dr Tariq Mehmood, Dr Muhammad Iqbal Afridi, Dr Raza K Rizvi and Dr Rukhsana A Sattar, examined Dr Asim.



“His [Dr Asim’s] medical check-up was carried out at [the] JPMC on court orders,” said the hospital’s focal person, Dr Javed Jamali. He said the medical board recommended that Dr Asim should be admitted to the hospital due to multiple medical complications, including hypertension.

Dr Asim remained at the JPMC for the check-up for around two hours.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Dr Jamali said the team consisted of a neurosurgeon, radiologist, psychiatrist and senior physician. “A private room (no. 1) has been allotted to the patient in the special ward,” he said, adding that the accountability court has been updated.

He added that the patient was taken back after the medical check-up. “We are ready to physically admit him in the hospital if they [officials] bring him back for treatment,” Dr Jamali added.

Meanwhile, Dr Asim’s attorney moved an application before the ATC-II judge seeking the return of his client’s Canadian passport, which was allegedly seized by the Rangers. The court did not pass any order on the application and extended the suspect’s judicial remand till January 30.



Wasim Akhtar’s interim bail

Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) mayoral candidate Wasim Akhtar appeared at the ATC on Tuesday where he had come to apply for pre-arrest bail in connection to the ‘facilitating terrorists’ case against Dr Asim.

When Akhtar applied for interim bail, the judge asked him to submit a sum of Rs1 million as surety. Akhtar replied that he would not pay this amount to which the judge said that he should then go to jail.

Akhtar’s lawyer Khawaja Naveed then intervened and pleaded that Akhtar was facing several cases and had to secure bail in them. The judge still refused. Later, Naveed said his client is the mayor-to-be and has a lot of work pertaining to sewage issues of the city. The judge then humoured that the suspect should clean the city and the court will then consider diminishing his bail amount. Eventually, Akhtar was given interim bail against a surety of Rs0.5 million.

NBWs against MQM, PPP leaders

During the hearing, investigating officer (IO) DSP Altaf Hussain submitted a report on the absconders. He said MQM’s Anis Qaimkhani was untraceable as he went abroad on November 8, 2013, while no record of MQM leader Saleem Shahzad could be found. He said PPP’s Qadir Patel went abroad on March 15, 2015.

The judge, accepting the report, once again issued non-bailable warrants of arrest against the absconders and directed the IO to arrest them from the airport whenever they return.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 20^th, 2016.