KARACHI: An antiterrorism court also allowed on Friday former petroleum minister Dr Asim Hussain to travel abroad for medical treatment.

Dr Asim, a close aide to former president Asif Ali Zardari, has been charged with allegedly treating and harbouring suspected terrorists, political militants and gangsters at his hospital purportedly at the behest of Karachi mayor Wasim Akhtar, Pak Sarzameen Party president Anis Kaimkhani, Muttahida Qaumi Movement lawmaker Rauf Siddiqui, Pakistan Peoples Party’s Abdul Qadir Patel, former MQM leader Saleem Shahzad, and Pasban leader Usman Moazzam.

After obtaining permission to travel abroad for a follow-up checkup from an accountability court on Jan 17, the former minister through his lawyer moved an identical application before an ATC.

The lawyer informed the ATC-II that an accountability court, where two corruption references are pending against him, has already permitted the applicant to travel abroad for 15 days and also sought a similar permission.

After hearing both sides, the ATC-II judge allowed Dr Asim to visit abroad from Jan 20 to Feb 3 for the purpose of treatment after furnishing a surety bond of Rs2 million.

A case was registered against Dr Asim and other politicians in 2015 on the complaint of Rangers at the North Nazimabad police station.

He is also facing two corruption references before the accountability court -IV regarding alleged corruption of over Rs460 billion through fraudulent allotment of land for expansion of his hospital, money laundering, receiving commission through fertiliser cartel for the illegal curtailment of gas for exploitative price hike, and fraudulently awarding contracts of five gas fields to Jamshoro Joint Venture Limited which caused an alleged loss of Rs17.338 billion.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2018