KARACHI: Release of Dr. Asim Hussain deferred even after getting bail in the last case against him due to delay in submission of his two passports in Sindh High Court (SHC) on court orders, ARY News reported.
The bail to former petroleum minister was granted by the court on Wednesday over medical grounds after over 19 months in detention.
Lawyers of Dr. Asim Hussain, a close aide to former president Asif Ali Zardari, have filed an appeal in the court seeking deletion of the condition of submitting his Pakistani and Canadian passports in the court.
Justice Aftab Gorar of SHC had granted bail to Dr. Asim yesterday while directing the accused to deposit 2.5 million as surety bond in both cases along with original passports. He also directed the interior ministry not to issue him a fresh passport until further orders and to place his name on the Exit Control List (ECL).
The PPP leader could release if the court grants his plea regarding the passport condition.
PPP workers were reached yesterday in Jinnah Hospital with a truck to take the PPP Karachi president back to his home.
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.
Earlier, a division bench of SHC had issued split orders over Dr. Asim’s bail petition on February 2.
Justice Farooq Shah had accepted the bail plea filed by the accused while Justice Karim Khan Agha had rejected the bail plea.
The bail plea later was referred to a referee judge for final orders. The referee judge, Justice Aftab Ahmed Gorar, yesterday granted bail to the accused.
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.
