The administrative judge of anti-terrorism court (ATC), Naimatullah Phulpoto, on Friday excused himself from hearing a plea filed by former petroleum minister Dr Asim’s mother.
The plea filed by the mother of the terror accused urged the court to dismiss the case and not give her son’s custody to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) or Rangers. The plea further stated that Rangers had concluded their investigations during 90-day remand while the NAB was also done with the process.
The woman has requested the court to bar law enforcement agencies from taking her son into custody after completion of necessary steps including investigation. The petitioner has maintained that Rangers are likely to torture her son if given in custody.
It should be mentioned here Dr Asim had been remanded in law enforcers’ custody twice in the recent past by Justice Phulpoto. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman and former president, Asif Ali Zardari’s confidant, Dr Asim Hussain is facing terrorism charges in a case registered in Karachi’s North Nazimabad Police Station.
The former federal minister is accused of providing shelter to criminals and terrorists in the hospital that he owns. On the other hand, the accountability department is probing the alleged corruption done on Asim’s part in different government institutions. An ATC had given Asim in Sindh police custody for four days after registration of the case.
