Corruption case against Dr Asim: SHC dismisses co-accused's plea for permission to travel abroad

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday dismissed an application filed by former finance adviser of Dr Ziauddin Hospital, who is also the one of the co-accused in Rs 460 billion corruption case, seeking permission to travel abroad. Abdul Hameed, who has been facing charges of facilitating Dr Asim Hussain, approached the court through his counsel, submitting that he wanted to travel to Dubai to renew his residence visa which would be expired on November 21.
He told the judges that he had already been granted pre-arrest bail by the court on November 11 and requested the court to allow him to travel abroad. The SHC bench headed by Justice Ahmed Ali M Shaikh, asked the applicant to approach the trial court for permission to leave the country.
Dr Asim, former petroleum minister and a close aide of Asif Ali Zardari, along with his accomplices, had been accused of misusing his authority for getting plots allotted fraudulently and encroaching upon state land for expansion of Dr Ziauddin Hospital, money laundering, receiving kickbacks and commission through fertilizer cartel for illegal curtailment of gas for exploitative price hike and defrauding people in the name of charity hospital. Abdul Hameed, former finance adviser of Dr Ziauddin Hospital, Masood Haider Jaffri, former KDA director and others have been nominated as co-accused in the case.