KARACHI: An antiterrorism court on Saturday took serious exception to failure of the Rangers prosecutor in submitting original documents of a joint investigation team (JIT) that probed into the alleged treatment and harbouring of suspected terrorists and exempted former federal minister Dr Asim Hussain and other accused from personal appearance until the evidence was furnished to the court.

Dr Asim, a close aide to former president Asif Ali Zardari, along with five others has been charged with treating and harbouring suspected terrorists, “political” militants and gangsters at the North Nazimabad and Clifton branches of his hospital at the behest of some politicians.

The politicians named in the case include Amir Khan, Karachi mayor Wasim Akhtar, Pak Sarzameen Party president Anis Kaimkhani, Muttahida Qaumi Movement lawmaker Rauf Siddiqui, PPP leader Abdul Qadir Patel and Pasban leader Usman Moazzam.

On Saturday, the matter was fixed before the ATC-II judge, who asked about the original report of findings of the JIT constituted in the case in compliance with its direction given on the last date.

A police officer appeared and informed that he was part of the JIT that probed the matter, but the original report of the findings was not with him. The officer added that the same was available with some other officer.

The judge took exception to the failure of the prosecution in submitting the original report in court despite its repeated directives and adjourned hearing till March 9.

The judge directed the prosecutor to furnish the original report on the next date and exempted all accused, until then, from personal appearance before the court in the present case.

The court also summoned a judicial magistrate, who had recorded statements of prosecution witnesses under Section 164 of the CrPC, on the next date.

The Rangers had picked up Dr Asim, chairman of the Sindh Higher Education Commission with the status of a provincial minister, from his office in Clifton on Aug 26, 2015.

The following day, the Rangers informed an ATC that Dr Asim was placed under three-month preventive detention for inquiry under Section 11-EEEE of the Anti-Terrorism Act, claiming that they had credible information about his involvement for using embezzled funds to finance terrorism.

Later, the paramilitary force handed him over to police after lodging a case against him and others for allegedly treating and harbouring terrorists and gangsters.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2019