Anis Kaimkhani gets ‘protective’ bail

Counsel tells high court he has no role in criminals’ 'harbouring case’

KARACHI: Senior leader of the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP), Anis Kaimkhani, obtained on Monday week-long protective bail from the Sindh High Court in a case registered against Dr Asim Hussain and others for sheltering and treating criminals at his hospitals.

Kaimkhani, a former leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), said he was out of the country when the FIR was registered against him, along with other party leaders, by the Rangers on August 26 last year accusing them of getting criminals treated at the Ziauddin hospitals owned by the former petroleum minister.

Kaimkhani's counsel said when the applicant returned to the country on March 3, 2016, he learnt that he had been declared an absconder in the case. The relevant anti-terrorism court had recently issued, for the third time, non-bailable warrants for the PSP leader.



Qaimkhani said he has surrendered himself before the high court therefore he may be granted bail before arrest "as he gravely apprehends he would be arrested."

He added that he would be humiliated and harassed by the MQM, as they have now formed a rival party. "Therefore, his life is in danger," said his counsel.

In the bail plea, it was said that on account of threats to Kaimkhani's life, his movement has been restricted being a senior member of the new party.



He claimed he was implicated in the case at the behest of MQM as differences between him and his former party had emerged before the registration of the FIR.

It was said that the FIR was intentionally lodged against the applicant during his absence from the country to implicate him. "It is on account of fear for life that the applicant and other dissidents left the country and took asylum in Dubai," the bail plea stated.

The PSP leader argued that the allegations mentioned in the FIR are the outcome of interrogation of Dr Asim during his detention by the Rangers, which are statements of the co-accused in custody, thus the same have no value in the eyes of the law.

It was argued that even the confession of an accused during police custody is not admissible under the law.

Therefore, the court was pleaded to grant pre-arrest bail to Kaimkhani.

The bench granted him protective bail for one week with direction to surrender before the trial court.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 13^th, 2016.