ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed Dr Asim Hussain — a close confidant of former president Asif Ali Zardari — to go abroad for medical treatment for a month but with the condition that he would honour his commitment and return to join the cases he was facing.

“We expect the undertaking given at the bar [to come back] will be honoured so that the confidence on him is not shattered,” observed Justice Dost Mohammad Khan while dictating orders realising that not only the Constitution had given full protection to human life but even the religion had placed the same on the highest pedestal.

The SC had jointly taken up the application of Dr Asim seeking permission to proceed to the UK for “disc replacement” and the appeal moved by the National Accountability Bureau chairman for the cancellation of the bails granted to him by the Sindh High Court (SHC).

Securities sought to ensure his return after ‘disc replacement’ in the UK

On March 22, the SHC had granted bail to Dr Asim on medical grounds in two corruption references worth Rs479 billion when his counsel informed the court that his client’s health condition was worsening and he required complete rest and medical treatment.

He was also facing trial before an antiterrorism court (ATC) on a complaint by the Pakistan Rangers, Sindh, for allegedly treating and harbouring suspected terrorists at the North Nazimabad and Clifton branches of Ziauddin Hospital at the behest of some MQM, PPP and Pasban-i-Pakistan leaders.

Dr Asim was allowed foreign treatment by the apex court after his counsel Sardar Latif Khosa assured a three-judge bench of his client’s return after the treatment citing that he had deep roots in Pakistan. But the court demanded that Dr Asim furnish enough securities to ensure that the authorities did not apprehend that he gave false excuses to get treatment abroad.

The court ordered all the relevant departments, including the interior ministry, Federal Investigation Agency, NAB and the immigration department to immediately remove his name from the Exit Control List (ECL), though the authorities would be at liberty to place his name again on the ECL after his return.

His passport that had been deposited at the time of his bail would be given back to him by the SHC and if needed, it would even be renewed. Meanwhile, in his absence, his counsel would continue to appear before the trial court.

However, Dr Asim would have to deposit Rs6 million in cash or defence savings certificates of equal worth to the satisfaction of the trial court in addition to the Rs4.5m he had already deposited before NAB and another Rs2m before the ATC.

The court observed that as being said the accused had been suffering with the disease, the treatment of which was not available or managed in the prison and had the potential to worsen.

Justice Khan said almost six medical boards comprising doctors of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical College (JPMC), Aga Khan University Hospital, Dow Medical University, Liaquat National Hospital from the field of neurology, diabetes, cardiac physicians had declared Dr Asim to be probably in need of specialised treatment of disc replacement — a treatment not available in Pakistan.

However, NAB prosecutor Nasir Moghal opposed the relief sought on medical grounds. He said that being the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ziauddin Hospital Karachi and being the former chairman of PMDC, Dr Asim wielded enough influence on medical professionals to get their opinion in his favour.

But the prosecutor could not explain when the court asked if NAB had doubts on the genuineness of the opinions delivered by the medical professionals before the SHC.

Relying on an earlier decision by the apex court in the Malik Mohammad Yousufullah Khan case, the bench observed, this court was not ready to listen to the presumptions and assumptions of the prosecutor especially when neither the court could substitute its earlier findings or the opinion of the medical experts.

If NAB suspected foul play and considered the medical reports not genuine, it could have suggested medical board outside Karachi to ascertain the true nature of the disease Dr Asim was suffering, the court observed.

The court also recalled that a co-accused, A.Z. Malik, was allowed to go abroad and return within a stipulated time on a business trip despite the fact that he was in a position to have business deals through different applications on the social media like Skype and other video conferencing apps. This showed that NAB took different positions as the authorities were trying to keep Dr Asim in a painful condition for no legitimate reasons.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2017