KARACHI: An accountability court in Karachi has allowed former petroleum minister Dr Asim Hussain to travel to London for medical treatment.
Dr Hussain’s counsel Advocate Owais Jamal said that his client is unwell and wants to travel abroad for the followup of his treatment. The court accepted the pleas and said that Dr Hussain should return by 25th August.
Hussain, who is a close aide of former president Asif Zardari, was first arrested in 2015 on charges of terror financing and misappropriation of funds to support terrorism and criminal activities.
In 2016, a reference was filed against him for misusing his authority and encroaching on public land for the expansion of his hospital. He is accused of causing a Rs460 billion loss to the national exchequer.
Dr Asim Hussain, some retired bureaucrats and private persons are standing trial for allegedly misusing their authority and causing a huge loss to the national exchequer.
The National Accountability Bureau had filed the reference against them in February 2016 pertaining to illegally curtailing gas to the agriculture sector
NAB said the price of fertilisers was hiked and the minister received kickbacks in return to benefit a particular group associated with the fertiliser industry.
Former petroleum and natural resources secretary Ejaz Chaudhry, Karachi Docks Labour Board’s former chief executive officer Safdar Hussain, KDA’s ex-directors Syed Athar Hussain and Masood Haider Jaffery, and Ziauddin’s group finance director Abdul Hameed were named as co-accused in this case.
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