Corruption reference: Dr Asim’s indictment deferred till May 13

Defence counsels complain of not receiving prosecution documents

KARACHI: An accountability court deferred once again on Saturday the indictment of former petroleum minister Dr Asim Hussain and others accused in a corruption reference involving Rs17 billion.

For the fourth time now, the framing of charges was adjourned after some defence counsels complained again of not yet receiving copies of prosecution documents on the basis of which the trial will be started. The supply of copies is a mandatory procedure before indictment, which is the formal initiation of the trial.

The case revolves around the award of contracts to a private gas processing company, Jamshoro Joint Venture Limited (JJVL), which has been accused of illegally obtaining five gas fields in lower Sindh.



The prosecution alleges that the private company was given the contract without even holding of an open auction and other necessary procedures required under law to make the process transparent.

It was maintained that during this alleged illegal process, a total loss of Rs17.338 billion was incurred to the national exchequer, due to misuse of authority by the former minister, Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) incumbent managing director Khalid Rehman and former top SSGC officials Zuhair Siddiqui, Azeem Iqbal, Shoaib Warsi, Yusuf Jamil Ansari and Malik Usman, Oil and Gas Development Company Limited former managing director Basharat Mirza and another official of the company, Zahid Bakhtiar. The JJVL's chief executive officer, Iqbal Z Ahmed, is also nominated in the case.

At the outset of Saturday's hearing, most of the defence lawyers opposed the indictment, contending that they were still not aware of the grounds on which their clients were implicated in. However, one of the defence lawyers insisted that the court should frame charges, which led to a heated argument in the courtroom.

The NAB prosecutor also pleaded to the judge to proceed with the agenda. He said that the defence was employing tactics to delay the case.

After listening to the arguments from both sides, the accountability courts' administrative judge, Saad Qureshi, observed that the court will frame charges on the next hearing on May 13 and, in the meantime, the defence and prosecution must sort out their issues.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 8^th, 2016.