SHC extends bail period of three accused in graft reference against Dr Asim

KARACHI: A bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday announced its verdict on bail petitions of co-accused in Rs462 billion PSO corruption reference against former petroleum minister Dr Asim Hussain, ARY News reported.

The bench while announcing its reserved decision on bail petitions of co-accused extended bail period of former secretary petroleum Ijaz Chaudhry, former chief executive officer of the Karachi Dock Labour Board (KDLB), Muhammad Safdar and former director of the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) Athar Hussain.

The court dismissed the pre-arrest bail plea of another co-accused Abdul Hameed,as the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials took him into custody.

Dr Asim Hussain, a close aide of former president and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, facing corruption references pertaining to alleged corruption of over Rs460 billion through fraudulent allotment of land for expansion of his hospital in Karachi and money laundering.

He fraudulently awarded contracts for five gas fields to the Jamshoro Joint Venture Limited, which allegedly caused a loss of Rs17.338bn to the national exchequer, according to the NAB documents presented by the prosecutor in the court.

The former minister was arrested on August 25, 2015 by the Rangers.