Opposing the plea of former federal minister and Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) Karachi chapter president Dr Asim Hussain for the removal of his name from ECL, the federal government told the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday that his name was placed in ECL because of his alleged involvement in multi-billion corruption cases. A division bench, headed by Justice Muhammad Junaid Ghaffar, was hearing Dr Asim's plea, asking the court to strike down his name from ECL; as according to him, he has to undergone a spinal surgery abroad.

During Monday's hearing, the Deputy Attorney General, Liaquat Shaikh informed the judges that the interior ministry had placed the name of Dr Asim in 'No Fly List' on the order of the high court and recommendations of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) that filed two corruption references against him.

The federal law officer submitted that the PPP leader could not be allowed to leave the country due to his involvement in massive corruption cases, pleading to the court to reject his application. NAB Prosecutor Muhammad Altaf also vehemently opposed Dr Asim's plea for leaving the country and contended that the SHC while granting him bail in the corruption cases on the medical grounds had directed him to deposit his passports along with the surety amount. He pointed out that the SHC in its order had directed the interior ministry to place Dr Asim's name on the ECL. The bench put off the matter to May 26 after hearing the contentions of the federal government law officer and NAB prosecutor.

Copyright Pakistan Press International, 2017