KARACHI: An accountability court indicted former federal minister Dr Asim Hussain along with former top officials of two state-owned companies — the Sui Southern Gas Company and the Oil and Gas Development Company — in a Rs17 billion corruption reference on Monday.

Dr Asim, a close aide of former president Asif Ali Zardari, along with the former managing directors and other senior officials of SSGC and OGDC has been accused of allegedly misusing his authority and fraudulently awarding contracts of five gas fields in Sindh to a privately-managed gas processing company, the Jamshoro Joint Venture Limited (JJVL), that had caused a loss of Rs17.338bn to the exchequer.

Judge Fareed Anwar Qazi of the Accountability Court-VI read out charges against Dr Asim, former managing directors of SSGC Khalid Rehman, Zuhair Siddiqui and Azeem Iqbal Siddiqui, former OGDC MD Basharat Mirza, the then deputy MDs of gas utility, Yousuf Jamil Ansari and Shoaib Warsi, former SSGC general manager treasury and finance Malik Usman and JJVL chief executive officer Iqbal Z. Ahmed.

All the accused pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the charges.

The JJVL chief and former OGDC MD Mirza were not present during Monday’s proceedings, but their lawyers denied charges on behalf of both the accused.

All accused have denied charges

Subsequently, the court summoned the prosecution witnesses for recording their evidence on March 17.

The National Accountability Bureau had filed a reference against them in March 2016 stating that the former minister and officials allowed the JJVL to illegally process gas of Kunar Pasakhi Deep, Bobi, Sinjhoro, Naimat Basal and Badin gas fields without an open auction, agreement and memorandum of understanding.

It further said that the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and natural gas liquid (NGL) extracted at an exorbitant rate was illegally allowed and the excessive rate caused losses of Rs474.6 million and Rs4.14bn to the OGDC and SSGC, respectively. The excessive NGL processing charges was Rs1.45bn, outstanding NGL payments stood at Rs3.4bn and outstanding payments for LPG amounted to Rs7.87bn.

Dr Asim along with former petroleum secretary Ejaz Chaudhry and others is also facing trial in another over Rs460bn graft reference before the accountability court for allegedly misusing his authority for getting plots allotted fraudulently and encroaching upon state land for expansion of his hospital, money laundering, commission through fertiliser cartel for illegal curtailment of gas for exploitative price hike and fraud with public in the name of charity hospital.

Moreover, the former minister along with some other politicians has also been facing trial before an antiterrorism court for allegedly providing treatment to suspected terrorists and gangsters and harbouring them at his hospital.

Interim charge sheet in Intizar murder case filed

Police submitted on Monday an interim charge-sheet in the court of a judicial magistrate against eight officials of the Anti-Car-Lifting Cell in the Intizar murder case.

However, a team of prosecution while observing in its scrutiny note that the offence created fear and insecurity among people recommended that Sections 6/7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 be incorporated in the FIR and the case be sent to an antiterrorism court for trial.

Then ACLC SHO Tariq Mehmood, Inspector Azhar Ahsan, head constables Ghulam Abbas and Shahid, constables Ghulam Abbas, Fawad Khan, Mohammad Daniyal and Bilal Rasheed were booked for allegedly killing 19-year-old student Intizar Ahmed on the night of Jan 13 in Defence Housing Authority.

The investigating officer, Aziz Shaikh, of the Counter-Terrorism Department submitted an interim investigation report through the prosecution before a judicial magistrate (South).

The IO named the eight officials as accused in his report, but left out head constable Ghulam Abbas stating that he was not present at the time of the incident.

The name of Madiha Kayani — who was travelling with victim Intizar at the time of the incident but disappeared silently from the crime scene instead of reporting it to the police — was placed among the list of prosecution witnesses.

The interim report is also silent about then ACLC SSP Muqaddas Haider.

The IO stated in the report that Daniyal and Bilal had opened fire on Intizar’s car. Six other ACLC officials, who were present at the crime scene, were charge-sheeted for common intention and abetment.

Prosecutors suggest trial under ATA

However, the prosecution submitted the interim investigation report in the court along with a detailed scrutiny note making some recommendations.

The deputy district public prosecutors, Khair Mohammad Khattak and Abdul Qadeer Memon, scrutinised the investigation report and observed that the incident had created fear and insecurity among the people since the victim was unarmed and the ACLC men resorted to unprovoked firing causing his death.

They noted that the victim was not shifted to a hospital in a timely manner while a video of the incident also went viral that created terror among the public, thus it became a case of terrorism.

The prosecutors recommended that Sections 6/7 of the ATA be incorporated in the FIR and the case be sent to an ATC for trial.

They also suggested that the reservations of the complainant about the then SSP might also be investigated. They raised questions for placing Ms Kayani among the list of witnesses.

The FIR said some persons intercepted the victim’s car at Khayaban-i-Ittehad in DHA on the night of Jan 13 and killed him. The case was registered on the complaint of the deceased’s father under Sections 302 (premeditated murder) and 34 (common intension) of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Darakhshan police station.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2018