SHC rejects Dr Asim’s application seeking exemption from submitting passport

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday rejected an application filed by former federal minister and PPP leader Dr Asim Hussain seeking an amendment in the courts decision, DawnNews reported.

In the application, Dr Asim had sought exemption from the court’s decision asking him to submit his Pakistani and Canadian passports before Justice Aftab Ahmed Gorar, the referee judge.

Dr Asim had mentioned that the passports have been already deposited with an anti-terrorism court trying him in a case pertaining to treatment of terrorists at his hospitals.

“Not even a single comma from the decision can be changed,” the high court said while announcing its decision regarding Dr Asim’s application.

Dr Asim could have been released on Wednesday after the court approved the PPP leader’s bail pleas in two corruption references.

However, the the referee judge directed him to deposit his passports with the SHC along with the surety amount of Rs2.5 million in each reference.

Justice Aftab Ahmed Gorar was appointed the referee judge by the chief justice after a two-judge bench — comprising Jus­tices Mohammad Farooq Shah and Mohammad Karim Khan Agha — gave a split verdict on Dr Hussain’s bail applications in cases pertaining to depriving the exchequer of Rs462bn by misusing his authority to get land allotted illegally, encr­oa­­ching upon state land for expansion of Dr Ziauddin Hospital, money laundering and receiving kickbacks.

Source: Dawn