JJVL case against Dr Asim: Hearing put off till 13th

May 9, 2016
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By Nasir Mahmood

KARACHI: The Accountability Court IV hasadjourned hearing of the JJVL (Jamshoro Joint Venture Limited) reference against former federal petroleum minister Dr Asim Hussain till May 13.

Dr Asim, Yousaf Ansari, Basharat Mirza, Naveed Mukhtar and others accused in the case appeared in the court the day befor yesterday.

Counsel for the defendant maintained that the reference was bogus and Dr Asim should not be indicted. The National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) prosecutor said that the defence should approach high court if they were not satisfied with the proceedings.

However, the court stated that prosecution would not discuss the documents that were not filed during the trial. The judge further directed the accountability bureau to provide counselor.

Counsel for another accused Azhar Siddique requested the court to take into consideration the verdict of Islamabad High Court (IHC). The case was based on lies and dishonesty, he said.

Earlier, on Friday Asim Hussain had protested his innocence, saying he had committed no corruption and all the documents presented by NAB were false and fake.

He further claimed that he was being victimised for political purposes.

The court then fixed May 14 to hear the evidence of the prosecution witnesses against Hussain, former petroleum secretary Muhammad Ejaz Chaudhry, then adviser to finance group and sitting administrator of Ziauddin Medical Centre (Dubai) Abdul Hameed, former chief executive officer of Karachi Dock Labour Board Safdar Hussain, and former KDA directors Syed Athar Hussain and Masood Haider Jaffri. Accountability Court IV Judge Saad Qureshi, while considering the not guilty pleas of the defendants, ordered issuing notices to the prosecution witnesses for recording their testimonies on May 14.

On Saturday, Dr Asim Hussain, while replying to questions from media outside the court pointed out that Joint Investigation Team (JIT) had wrongly mentioned in its report that “he got married in 1979 to only daughter of Dr Ziauddin (late), owner of Ziauddin Hospital System”.

Instead, he disclosed that Dr Ziauddin was his maternal grandfather. It may be mentioned here that Dr Asim Hussain was born in Karachi, on 28 November 1953. He was born to Ms. Ejaz Fatima and Mr. Tajammul Hussain, the founding members of the Dr. Ziauddin Group of Hospitals. Dr. Asim received his early education from the Karachi Grammar School and later enrolled in Cadet College, Petaro. After serving for a brief period in Pakistan Army, Dr. Asim Hussain retired as a Lieutenant and chose to pursue the degree of MBBS. He graduated from Dow Medical College (now, Dow University of Health Sciences) Karachi in 1978 and went to Europe for further studies. He is a member of College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPS). In 1981 continued his studies in Vienna, Austria. After returning to Pakistan, he entered politics.

He is Chairman of the Dr. Ziauddin Group of Hospitals. In 1995, Dr. Asim established the Ziauddin University, a chartered institution of Provincial Assembly of Sindh and accredited by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan.

His maternal grandfather Sir Ziauddin Ahmad born on 13 February 1878 –(died on 23 December 1947) was a Genius mathematician, parliamentarian, logician, natural philosopher, politician, political theorist, educationist and scholar. He was a member of the Aligarh Movement and was a professor, Principal of Mahommedan Anglo-Oriental (MAO) College, Aligarh, first Pro Vice Chancellor, Vice Chancellor and Rector of Aligarh Muslim University, India. He remained Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University for three terms. In 1917 he was appointed a member of the Calcutta University Commission also known as the Sadler Commission. Sir Ziauddin’s son Zakauddin Ahmad lived in Aligarh. His daughter Dr. Ejaz Fatima is the wife of Dr. Tajammul Hussain. She has four children (two sons and two daughters), namely Dr. Asim Hussain, former Petroleum Minister and Presidential Advisor of Pakistan, Dr. Rubina Hussain, Dr. Arif Hussain and Sabina Hussain, owner of Dr. Sir Ziauddin Ahmad University, Karachi.

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