Dr Asim walks free after 19 months in jail
Court orders interior ministry to place PPP leader’s name on ECL
The court was told that NAB had established during the inquiry that offence had been committed in active connivance of Dr Asim and 11 others through an organised conspiracy and criminal breach of trust. PHOTO: ONLINE
KARACHI:
After spending 19 months in custody, the close aide of former president Asif Ali Zardari and president of the PPP Karachi division, Dr Asim Hussain, finally walked free on Friday after the Sindh High Court (SHC) issued an order for his release on bail in connection with Rs479 billion corruption cases.
Dr Hussain was formally released from the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, which was declared as sub-jail due to his prolonged admission to the health facility for treatment of different ailments he had been suffering.
Instead of heading home, he was shifted to Dr Ziauddin Hospital run by his family’s trust.
On Friday, the assistant registrar of the SHC’s Writ Branch issued the release order, addressing the superintendent of the Karachi Central Jail to release the petitioner, Dr Asim Hussain, if his custody was not required in any other case.
In the release order, a copy of which was available with The Express Tribune, the registrar certified that surety had been deposited by the petitioner in the shape of special saving certificates and surety bond while the judge of the ATC-II had forwarded one original Pakistani and Canadian passports of Dr Hussain, which are kept in safe custody of the Nazir of the SHC.
“You are, therefore, required to release the petitioner Dr Asim Hussain, son of Tajamul Hussain (late), if he is not required in any other case,” the assistant registrar directed the prison superintendent.
The paramilitary Rangers had taken Dr Hussain into ‘preventive detention’ on August 27, 2015 for three months over his alleged involvement in corruption. Observers had declared it a major arrest of any leader of the opposition PPP following a crackdown on corrupt politicians and officials in Sindh.
However, the PPP leader remained in jail seeking bail in corruption references filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against alleged graft of Rs479 billion.
Meanwhile, the Sindh High Court (SHC) directed the interior ministry to take immediate steps to keep the name of Dr Asim Hussain on Exit Control List (ECL).
The directive came in pursuance of the SHC’s March 29 order, passed by its referee judge, Justice Aftab Ahmed Gorarh who, while granting bail to the PPP leader, had directed him to deposit his original Pakistani and Canadian passports with the court’s Nazir (official).
The court had also directed the interior ministry not to issue him any ‘fresh or duplicate’ passport and to place his name on ECL till further orders.
In pursuance of the order, SHC Registrar Ghulam Mustafa Memon wrote a letter to the ministry on Friday to get the court’s order implemented.
“You are, therefore, required to take immediate steps, on priority basis, in this behalf, and desist from issuing duplicate or fresh passports to Dr Asim Hussain, and keep his name on the Exit Control List forthwith,” read the letter, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 1st, 2017.
After spending 19 months in custody, the close aide of former president Asif Ali Zardari and president of the PPP Karachi division, Dr Asim Hussain, finally walked free on Friday after the Sindh High Court (SHC) issued an order for his release on bail in connection with Rs479 billion corruption cases.
Dr Hussain was formally released from the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, which was declared as sub-jail due to his prolonged admission to the health facility for treatment of different ailments he had been suffering.
Instead of heading home, he was shifted to Dr Ziauddin Hospital run by his family’s trust.
On Friday, the assistant registrar of the SHC’s Writ Branch issued the release order, addressing the superintendent of the Karachi Central Jail to release the petitioner, Dr Asim Hussain, if his custody was not required in any other case.
In the release order, a copy of which was available with The Express Tribune, the registrar certified that surety had been deposited by the petitioner in the shape of special saving certificates and surety bond while the judge of the ATC-II had forwarded one original Pakistani and Canadian passports of Dr Hussain, which are kept in safe custody of the Nazir of the SHC.
“You are, therefore, required to release the petitioner Dr Asim Hussain, son of Tajamul Hussain (late), if he is not required in any other case,” the assistant registrar directed the prison superintendent.
The paramilitary Rangers had taken Dr Hussain into ‘preventive detention’ on August 27, 2015 for three months over his alleged involvement in corruption. Observers had declared it a major arrest of any leader of the opposition PPP following a crackdown on corrupt politicians and officials in Sindh.
However, the PPP leader remained in jail seeking bail in corruption references filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against alleged graft of Rs479 billion.
Meanwhile, the Sindh High Court (SHC) directed the interior ministry to take immediate steps to keep the name of Dr Asim Hussain on Exit Control List (ECL).
The directive came in pursuance of the SHC’s March 29 order, passed by its referee judge, Justice Aftab Ahmed Gorarh who, while granting bail to the PPP leader, had directed him to deposit his original Pakistani and Canadian passports with the court’s Nazir (official).
The court had also directed the interior ministry not to issue him any ‘fresh or duplicate’ passport and to place his name on ECL till further orders.
In pursuance of the order, SHC Registrar Ghulam Mustafa Memon wrote a letter to the ministry on Friday to get the court’s order implemented.
“You are, therefore, required to take immediate steps, on priority basis, in this behalf, and desist from issuing duplicate or fresh passports to Dr Asim Hussain, and keep his name on the Exit Control List forthwith,” read the letter, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 1st, 2017.