ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader and former minister Dr Asim Hussain on Wednesday instituted yet another application to the Supreme Court, seeking an early hearing on his request to allow him to proceed abroad for cardiac treatment.

In a fresh application, moved through his counsel Advocate Sardar Abdul Latif Khosa, Dr Hussain — who is facing a number of corruption references — asked the apex court to take up the matter on Friday (Aug 18) and allow him to proceed to the UK, where he had fixed a doctor’s appointment for Aug 24.

A three-judge Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, is seized with Dr Hussain’s application seeking permission to travel to the UK for medical treatment, the removal of his name from the Exit Control List (ECL) and the return of his passport.

At the last hearing on July 14, the court had proposed the constitution of an independent medical board, consisting of doctors from all provinces, to determine what ails Dr Hussain.

But senior counsel Sardar Khosa had opposed the suggestion, saying the court should steer clear of setting a precedent that may prove dangerous in the future, highlighting that Dr Hussain was afflicted by a number of ailments.

Earlier, Dr Hussain had furnished a request seeking permission to travel to the UK for a medical check-up.

In the fresh one-page application, Dr Hussain posits that the matter merits an urgent hearing by the apex court on account of the nature of his disease and because the doctors in the UK had given him an appointment for Aug 24.

“Ends of justice therefore demand that the case be heard before Aug 24,” the application stated, recalling that earlier the matter was adjourned on July 14, with directions to fix it before the bench after a week.

However, the case has not been fixed for hearing since then, and in view of the urgency of the matter, it should be taken up on Aug 18, the application asks.

The court is also hearing a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) appeal challenging the Sindh High Court’s March 22 order granting Dr Hussain bail in two corruption references.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2017