Indictment deferred after Dr Asim no-show

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) dismissed on Saturday the bail application of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Qadir Patel in the terrorists' facilitation case involving former petroleum minister Dr Asim Hussain.

The ATC-II judge rejected the bail plea after listening to arguments from the prosecution and the defence. This is the second time that the same court has dismissed the PPP leader's bail plea. Earlier, the court had sent him to jail, cancelling his interim bail obtained from the Sindh High Court.  PPP's Patel, Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader and Karachi mayor Wasim Akhtar, MPA Rauf Siddiqui, another leader Saleem Shahzad, Pak Sarzameen Party's Anis Kaimkhani and Pasban's Usman Moazzam have been booked for their alleged involvement in the case.

The hearing of the case was fixed for indictment of the suspects, however, after Dr Asim could not make it to the court for medical reasons, the hearing was adjourned.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16^th, 2016.