KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Friday threw out an application seeking urgent hearing of the bail pleas of Dr Asim Hussain and co-accused in a case pertaining to treating and harbouring suspected terrorists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and gangsters of Lyari at his hospital.

A two-judge bench comprising Justices Mohammad Ali Mazhar and Abdul Maalik Gaddi dismissed the application for urgent hearing of the bail applications of Dr Asim and others on the grounds that the court had already set Nov 1 (Tuesday) for the hearing of the matter.

The bench, at least fifth in row, was assigned the bail applications for hearing by the chief justice after one of the members of the previous bench, Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto recused himself from the bench as he as the administrative judge of the antiterrorism courts had earlier rejected an application seeking Dr Asim’s release.

Bail applications have also been filed by Dr Asim Hussain, Rauf Siddiqui, Anees Qaimkhani and Qadir Patel against the rejection order by the ATC in June last.

On Sept 21, SHC senior puisne judge Justice Ahmed Ali M. Sheikh, had declined to hear the bail pleas of the accused persons and the matter was referred to SHC chief justice, who assigned it to the bench headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar fixing the hearing for Sept 29. However, the other member of the bench declined to sit on the bench on that day.

The matter was subsequently referred back to the chief justice for further direction or constitution of a new bench. The CJ then fixed Oct 10 as the next date of hearing.

Dr Hussain, the chairman of the Sindh Higher Education Commis­sion, had been picked up by the paramilitary force of Rangers last year.

Sharmila Farooqi’s plea

Meanwhile, a two-judge bench, headed by Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto, extended its interim order restraining the Election Commission of Pakistan, the National Accountability Bureau and others from taking any adverse action against PPP lawmaker Sharmila Farooqui.

The court directed the special prosecutor of the NAB and the petitioner’s counsel to forward their arguments on the next hearing on Nov 23.

The bench was hearing the petition of the PPP MPA against the NAB for writing to the ECP and the Sindh Assembly to disqualify her for having been convicted by a court.

Her counsel filed a rejoinder contending that under Section 9 and 17 of the Ehtesab Act, there was no such disqualification of a person holding public office after he or she entered into plea bargain.

“Under no circumstances, Section 15 of the National Accountability Ordinance 1999, which provided that a person stands disqualified for holding public office for 21 years after having been convicted by a court, cannot be applied in her client’s case,” he argued.

The NAB prosecutor, in his reply, submitted that Ms Farooqui could not hold any public office as she had been convicted by an accountability court. He stated that Ms Farooqi, her mother Anisa Farooqi and father Usman Farooqi, stood disqualified for holding public office for 21 years as per the judgement of the accountability court issued on April 28, 2001 under Section 15 of the National Accountability Ordinance.

In her petition, Sharmila Farooqi submitted that the NAB had filed a reference against her father, who was a former Steel Mills chairman, mother and her for investing a huge amount in national saving schemes which did not commensurate with their known sources of income.

However, they later entered into a plea bargain with the NAB which was allowed by the relevant court in 2001. She said that in 2016, the NAB had written to the ECP, the State Bank of Pakistan and others calling for her disqualification under the Section 15 of the Ordinance.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2016