KARACHI: The accountability court on Friday indicted former petroleum minister Dr Asim Hussain for Rs462 billion corruption in the ministry of petroleum during his tenure.
According to National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Dr Asim created artificial shortage of gas during his tenure as a result urea fertilizer prices skyrocketed and touched Rs1830 from just Rs850.
Due to this, the government provided a subsidy on urea import which caused Rs450 billion loss to national exchequer from 2012 to 2013.
Dr Asim also acquired land illegally for establishment of Ziauddin Hospital, according to the NAB document present by the prosecutor in the court.
Dr Asim pleaded not guilty, saying he was being politically victimized.He said charges framed against him were fake.
Speaking to the media outside the court Dr Asim said, “I am the first political prisoner.” When a reporter asked him that former president Asif Ali Zardari was once a political prisoner too, he replied, “I am talking about present times.”
Dr Asim said that the charges leveled against him by NAB had already been investigated before. “The court was not informed of this,” he said.
The former minister was arrested on August 25, 2015 by the paramilitary.