Third bench declines to hear Dr Asim’s bail plea

He had approached SHC to seek bail in case registered by Rangers

KARACHI: The third bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC) assigned the bail applications of former petroleum adviser Dr Asim Hussain and others in case relating to treatment and harbouring of terrorists at his private health facilities declined to hear the pleas on Thursday.

The bench, comprising justices Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Arshad Hussain, referred the matter to the SHC Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah to constitute a bench of which Justice Hussain was not a member.

Earlier, the second bench had declined to hear the bail plea of Dr Asim and the co-accused on September 20.

Dr Asim had approached the SHC to seek bail in connection with a criminal case registered by the Rangers against him and others for allegedly harbouring and treating terrorists belonging to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and 'gangsters' based in Lyari.

Identical bail applications filed by the co-accused, including MQM leaders Wasim Akhtar, now the mayor of Karachi, and Abdul Rauf Siddiqui, Pak Sarzameen Party's (PSP) Anis Kaimkhani, Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) Abdul Qadir Patel and Pasban Pakistan's general secretary, Usman Moazzam, were also tagged with Dr Asim's plea.

However, when the matter was taken up, the bench members declined to hear the matter.

Case history

In July this year, Dr Asim approached the SHC seeking post-arrest bail after an anti-terrorism court dismissed the same on June 19, observing that 'sufficient evidence had been found for him to be prosecuted for the offence'.

The FIR registered by the Rangers deputy superintendent alleges that Dr Asim provided medical treatment and shelter to terrorists and criminals at the behest of leaders from various political parties. In the plea, Dr Asim had maintained that he had nothing to do with the daily affairs of Ziauddin Hospitals and the prosecution witness, Yousuf Sattar, was actually the person in charge of running the hospital's daily affairs.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30^th, 2016.