KARACHI: The administrative judge of an anti-terrorism court remanded on Thursday Dr Asim Hussain, a former federal minister and close aide of former president Asif Ali Zardari, in police custody for four days in a case relating to providing treatment and shelter to terrorists.

Following the end of his 90-day preventive detention, Rangers had handed Dr Asim over to police on Wednesday night after lodging a case against him for allegedly treating and harbouring terrorists at North Nazimabad and Clifton branches of his hospital at the behest of leaders of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the PPP.

Police brought a visibly calm Dr Asim to the Sindh High Court premises in an armoured personnel carrier under Rangers escort and produced him before the judge along with remand papers.

Prosecutor General of Sindh Shahadat Awan sought four days’ custody of the accused for questioning, collection of evidence and recording statements of witnesses before a magistrate.

Usually, a regular prosecutor appointed for the administrative court pleads for remand on behalf of police.

Special Public Prosecutor of Rangers Habib Ahmed raised objections over the appearance of the provincial prosecuting officer in the case and said that in fact he had been authorised to plead the case because the paramilitary force was a complainant in the case.

He informed the court that he was seeking a 14-day police remand of the suspect and it was also mentioned in the remand paper, but the investigating officer had altered 14 days with four before submitting it to the court.

Refereeing to Section 21-E of ATA, Mr Ahmed said the minimum duration for first police remand was about two weeks.

Shahadat Awan argued that he was representing the entire prosecution of the province and empowered to appear before any court while the Rangers prosecutor was a representative of the complainant and was supposed to assist the government prosecutor. He said the four-day remand could be extended if sufficient grounds existed.

The defence lawyer, Amir Raza Naqvi, opposed the remand and requested the court to release his client. He argued that Dr Asim had been in Rangers’ custody for more than 90 days, which was not warranted by any judicial officer.

He said the law of preventive detention was against the spirit of the constitution, adding that the alleged confession made before police or any other law-enforcement agency had no legal weight until the same was made before a judicial magistrate.

After hearing the arguments, ATC’s administrative judge Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto handed over the suspect to police on a four-day physical remand.

Police said in the remand paper that investigating officer Rana Zulfiqar had questioned the suspect and he confessed to having provided treatment to alleged terrorists of the MQM and gangsters of Lyari at his hospital and harboured them after MQM leaders Waseem Akhtar, Rauf Siddiqui, Anis Qaimkhani and Saleem Shahzad and Qadir Patel of the PPP had allegedly asked him to do so.

Dr Asim also made illegal appointments and granted contracts when he was federal minister for petroleum, it claimed.

The physical remand was sought from Nov 16 to Dec 9, while alteration was visible in the remand paper regarding the required days.

The FIR lodged on the complaint of Rangers superintendent Inayatullah Durrani stated that Dr Asim confessed before a joint investigation team that he had provided treatment to terrorists backed by political parties and militant organisations at Ziauddin Hospital after they suffered injuries during shootouts with Rangers and police. He also sheltered them on the pretext of treatment, it said.

The PPP and MQM leaders were also named in the FIR for allegedly asking Dr Asim to treat and shelter the terrorists.

It also accused the former petroleum minister of making appointments in Pakistan State Oil and Sui Sothern Gas Company and awarding contracts by accepting graft.

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 21I (aid and abetment), 21J (harbouring any person who committed an offence under this act) and 7 (punishment for act of terrorism) of Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

Rangers picked up Dr Asim Hussain, the incumbent chairman of the Sindh Higher Education Commission with the status of a provincial minister, on Aug 26 from his office in Clifton. The following day Rangers informed an anti-terrorism court that he was placed under a three-month preventive detention for inquiry as per Section 11-EEEE of ATA since they had credible information about his involvement in using embezzled funds to finance terrorism.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2015