KARACHI: Finally granting bail to Dr Asim Hussain, former federal minister and a close aide of former president Asif Ali Zardari, and three other leaders of as many parties on Tuesday in a case registered for treating and harbouring alleged terrorists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and gangsters of Lyari at his hospital, the Sindh High Court restrained them from leaving the country without permission of the trial court.

A division bench, fifth in a row constituted to hear the bail applications, gave Dr Asim, Rauf Siddiqui of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Anis Qaimkhani of the Pak Sarzameen Party and Usman Moazzam of the Pasban-i-Pakistan in the sum of Rs500,000 each.

The bench, headed by Justice Mohammed Ali Mazhar, also directed the accused persons to deposit their original valid passports in the trial court and not to leave the country without permission of the trial court.

It also directed the trial court to conclude the trial within two months as considerable time had already lapsed without any progress in trial.

Advocates Sardar Abdul Latif Khosa, Anwar Mansoor Khan, Qadir Khan Mandokhail and Umaima Mansoor appeared for Dr Asim.

Advocate Khosa contended that the case against him lacked legal ground, as it was registered on the basis of a joint investigation team report.

He said the investigation officer had recommended dropping the charges against Dr Asim but the administrative judge of the antiterrorism courts rejected his report.

His counsel submitted that Dr Asim’s life was in danger as he was seriously ill and the eight-member medical board, constituted by the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, had advised surgery for him. He asked the court to grant bail to Dr Asim on medical grounds.

When asked by the court, special public prosecutor Ayaz Tunio did not oppose the grant of bail to Dr Asim on medical grounds. But Advocate Sajid Mehbob Shaikh, the counsel for the Rangers, opposed the bail applications, arguing that the hitmen, who were wounded in the shootouts with the law enforcement agencies, were brought to the hospital for treatment. He informed the court that 330 FIRs were registered against those who had been treated at his hospital.

Accused persons restrained from leaving Pakistan without court permission; ATC told to complete proceedings within two months

Advocates Ilyas Khan, Mohammed Farooq, Hassan Sabir and Soofia Saeed Shah appeared for Rauf Siddiqui and contended that the investigation officer had recorded the statements of 19 witnesses but none of them had deposed against his client.

Advocate Shaukat Hayat, the counsel for Mr Qaimkhani, said that the investigation officer had not mentioned any suspect who allegedly got treated at the hospital on the instructions of his client.

This was the fifth bench constituted for the hearing of the bail applications, as some members of the earlier benches recused themselves from hearing the bail applications.

Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto recused himself from the bench after Barrister Sardar Abdul Latif Khosa, counsel for Dr Asim, said that as the administrative judge of the antiterrorism courts, he had earlier rejected an application seeking the release of his client. The bench then referred the matter to Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah for the constitution of a new bench for hearing the bail applications of Dr Asim and other accused persons.

Lastly on Sept 21, SHC senior puisne judge Justice Ahmed Ali M. Sheikh declined to hear the bail pleas after which the matter was referred back to the SHC chief justice who then assigned it to the bench, headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar, while fixing the hearing for Sept 29. However on that day, the other member of the bench declined to sit on the bench. The matter was yet again referred to the SHC chief justice for further direction or constitution of a new bench, who had fixed Oct 10 as the next date of hearing.

MQM’s Karachi mayor-designate Waseem Akhtar and MPA Rauf Siddiqui and Abdul Qadir Patel of the Pakistan Peoples Party are co-accused in the case. They were arrested and sent to jail after rejection of their respective bail application by the ATC.

All the four accused persons were given protective bail by the SHC.

Dr Asim was booked on the complaint of the Rangers for allegedly treating and harbouring suspected terrorists, militants and gangsters at the North Nazimabad and Clifton branches of his hospital at the behest of the above-mentioned suspects.

According to an FIR registered on the complaint of Rangers superintendent Inayatullah Durrani, Dr Hussain confessed before a joint investigation team to have provided treatment to alleged MQM terrorists and gangsters from Lyari at his hospital and harboured them after MQM leaders Waseem Akhtar, Rauf Siddiqui, Anis Qaimkhani and Saleem Shahzad and PPP leader Qadir Patel had allegedly asked him to do so.The case against him was registered at the North Nazimabad police station under Sections 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence or giving false information to screen offender), 202 (intentional omission to give information of offence by person bound to inform), 216 (harbouring offender who has escaped from custody whose apprehension has been ordered), 216-A (penalty for harbouring robbers or dacoits), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant or banker, merchant or agent) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code, read with Sections 21-I (aid and abetment), 21-J (harbouring any person who committed an offence under this act) and 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

After taking him into custody in August 2015, the Rangers had informed an antiterrorism court that he had been placed under three-month preventive detention for inquiry as they had credible information about his involvement in financing terrorism.

Published in Dawn November 2nd, 2016