Zardari brought to PIMS hospital for treatment, checkup

Published October 22, 2019
The former president is currently on judicial remand in the fake accounts case. — AP/File
The former president is currently on judicial remand in the fake accounts case. — AP/File

Former president and PPP chief Asif Ali Zardari was brought to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) on Tuesday for treatment and lab tests after a medical board in Adiala jail recommended that the authorities do so.

Last week, an accountability court in Islamabad had ordered jail authorities to act upon the advice of medical officers on Zardari's plea for his shifting to a hospital. The former president is currently on judicial remand in the fake accounts case.

The PPP leader was brought to the hospital today from Adiala jail in an armoured vehicle.

Read more: Should NAB headquarters be shifted to a hospital, asks judge in lighthearted exchange with Zardari

Doctors at the hospital performed a medical examination and took samples for labs. The former president has meanwhile been shifted to the cardiology department of the hospital.

Talking to reporters after reaching the hospital, the former president said, "God willing, Maulana Fazlur Rehman will achieve his goal [of ousting the government]."

"Aisa tau hota hai aise ma'amloun mai [that's the way the cookie crumbles]," he replied when told that containers have been placed and arrests are being made to thwart the protest.

Last week, the PPP leader had told the accountability court that he is diabetic and suffers from cardiac ailments and needs medical care. The accountability court, however, had rejected a plea seeking the transfer of th ePPP chief and former president from jail to a hospital.

The court had rejected the plea on the grounds that the matter does not fall in the court's jurisdiction. Judge Mohammad Bashir, while pronouncing the decision, had directed Zardari to approach jail authorities instead. According to the verdict, jail authorities can declare a hospital a sub-jail through an executive order.

The court also ordered the jail superintendent to act upon the recommendations of the medical officers or a medical board.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had arrested Zardari on June 10 after cancellation of his pre-arrest bail by the Islamabad High Court in the fake bank accounts case. On Aug 16, the court had sent the former president to Adiala jail on judicial remand.

The case pertains to a massive money laundering scam that was previously being probed by the Federal Investigation Agency. The suspects include Zardari, Talpur, former Pakistan Stock Exchange chairman Hussain Lawai, Omni Group CEO Anwar Majeed and his sons and several other high profile persons. The case was later taken over by NAB on the Supreme Court's orders.

Opinion

Editorial

Ties with Tehran
Updated 24 Apr, 2024

Ties with Tehran

Tomorrow, if ties between Washington and Beijing nosedive, and the US asks Pakistan to reconsider CPEC, will we comply?
Working together
24 Apr, 2024

Working together

PAKISTAN’S democracy seems adrift, and no one understands this better than our politicians. The system has gone...
Farmers’ anxiety
24 Apr, 2024

Farmers’ anxiety

WHEAT prices in Punjab have plummeted far below the minimum support price owing to a bumper harvest, reckless...
By-election trends
Updated 23 Apr, 2024

By-election trends

Unless the culture of violence and rigging is rooted out, the credibility of the electoral process in Pakistan will continue to remain under a cloud.
Privatising PIA
23 Apr, 2024

Privatising PIA

FINANCE Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s reaffirmation that the process of disinvestment of the loss-making national...
Suffering in captivity
23 Apr, 2024

Suffering in captivity

YET another animal — a lioness — is critically ill at the Karachi Zoo. The feline, emaciated and barely able to...