KARACHI: An accountability court in Karachi on Thursday conducted hearing of Rs462 billion corruption reference filed against former petroleum minister Dr Asim Hussain.
During the hearing, defence counsels raised objections over the documents produced by a witness.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) court directed the witness to present original documents in the next hearing.
Later, the hearing was adjourned till March 11.
It is pertinent to mention here that Dr Asim Hussain had been permitted to go abroad for medical treatment by the NAB court on November 17, 2018.
He has been reportedly suffering from a back ailment and he had been granted permissions to travel abroad on medical grounds previously as well. The name of Dr Asim is placed on the exit control list (ECL) owing to graft charges against him.
An accountability court last year had indicted Dr Hussain, ex-petroleum secretary Ejaz Chaudhry and others in an over Rs 460 billion corruption reference.
Dr Hussain was taken into custody on August 26, 2015, by Rangers on different corruption charges.
After 19 months, his bail plea was referred to a referee judge for final orders. The referee judge, Justice Aftab Ahmed Gorar, granted bail to the accused earlier this year.
Dr Asim faced charges of misusing his authority for getting plots allotted fraudulently and encroaching upon state land for expansion of Dr Ziauddin Hospital, money laundering, illegal gains, kickbacks, commission through fertiliser cartel for illegal curtailment of gas for the exploitative price hike and defrauding people in the name of charity hospital.
