Dr. Asim submits copy of round trip plane ticket in SHC
- By Web Desk -
- May 03, 2017
KARACHI: In a bid to persuade the bench of Sindh High Court (SHC) of returning back to Pakistan after medical treatment abroad, Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP)’s Karachi president Dr. Asim Hussain submitted a copy of round trip plane ticket to London during hearing of his plea for removal of his name from Exit Control List (ECL), ARY News reported.
According to a copy of ticket, the PPP leader and close aide of former president Asif Ali Zardar, Hussain is set to go to London on May 7 and will return to Pakistan on May 21.
Dr. Asim’s lawyer apprised the bench that his client will undergo a spinal surgery and expected to come back within 20 days.
However, a divisional bench of the SHC while hearing the plea set the next hearing date on May 9.
Earlier on April 15, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) had allowed him to travel abroad on medical grounds against a surety of Rs2 million. The ATC had further ruled that over non compliance of the court order, which directs him to return within 20 days, the state machinery should take over his hospitals.
The petitioner pleaded the bench that a medical board had recommended him a spinal surgery abroad for which he should be granted permission to travel abroad.
MEGA CORRUPTION CHARGES
An accountability court last year had indicted Dr Hussain, ex-petroleum secretary Ejaz Chaudhry and others in an over Rs460 billion corruption reference.
Dr Hussain was taken into custody on August 26, 2015 by Rangers on different corruption charges.
After 19 months, his bail plea was referred to a referee judge for final orders. The referee judge, Justice Aftab Ahmed Gorar, granted bail to the accused earlier this year.
Dr Asim faced charges of misusing his authority for getting plots allotted fraudulently and encroaching upon state land for expansion of Dr Ziauddin Hospital/Trust, money laundering, illegal gains, kickbacks, commission through fertiliser cartel for illegal curtailment of gas for exploitative price hike and defrauding people in the name of charity hospital.