SHC grants Dr Asim bail in NAB corruption cases

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Wednesday approved the bail plea of Pakistan Peoples Party leader and former petroleum minster Dr Asim Hussain in two corruption references filed against him by the National Accountability Bureau.

The SHC’s referee judge approved the bail on medical grounds against a sum of Rs500,000, after having reserved his judgement on March 20. The court ordered him to submit his Pakistani and Canadian passports.

SHC chief justice had appointed Justice Aftab Ahmed Gorar as a referee judge to decide the bail applications, following a split verdict by an SHC division bench on the bail issue in February this year.

Later during the day the Anti Terrorism Court issued release orders for Dr Asim.

His lawyer, Anwar Mansoor Khan, had informed the judges that his client's health condition was worsening and he required complete rest and medical treatment.

Dr Asim is currently undergoing treatment at the National Institute of Cardiovascular diseases.

Dr Asim, a close aide of former president and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, faces several charges including corruption references filed by NAB of Rs 479 billion. He is also alleged to have provided treatment and protection to terrorists at a hospital owned by him.

According to 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 in court in May last year.

In a video clip in June 2016 he levelled serious allegations against PPP’s Owais Muzaffar alias Tappi, accusing him of being involved in corruption. However, he maintains he was tortured to extract confessional statement.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman and former president of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari had fiercely defended his close aide.

In an interview with a private TV channel, Zardari had said Dr Asim was his childhood friend and family doctor and incapable of committing corruption and providing medical help to terrorists.

Dismissing allegations of corruption on Dr Asim, he said the former served as a state minister and likened him to an ‘innocent rabbit’ who is afraid of his own shadow. The PPP leader, like in the past, had vowed to defend his friend on all platforms. He also visited Dr Asim in January this year at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases to inquire about his health.