Karachi: The Sindh government has changed the special public prosecutor pursuing charges of harbouring and treating terrorists against former petroleum minister and Asif Ali Zardari’s confidante Dr Asim Hussain. This came a day after the paramilitary Rangers petitioned the Sindh High Court seeking a restraining order against the possible move.
Nisar Ahmed Durrani, a Hyderabad-based member of the Sindh Bar Council and supporter of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party, replaced Mushtaq Jehangiri, a lawyer who was part of the paramilitary force’s legal team.
“I have received a letter [from the government] regarding my appointment as the special public prosecutor in the [Dr Asim] case,” Durrani confirmed to The Express Tribune. He said the notification was forwarded to him by the law department. According to the rules, however, the notification must be channelled through the home department. He added that he has already received the case history and related documents and that he was preparing for Monday’s (today’s) hearing.
Anticipated
A day earlier, a deputy superintendent of the Rangers, Inayatullah Durrani, approached the SHC against the possible change of the prosecutor in Dr Asim’s case. The Sindh government was pressuring the home department to replace Jehangiri because he had refused to approve a report for Dr Asim’s release.
On Friday, Jehangiri had also moved the court, filing a similar petition in which he accused the newly-appointed investigating officer, DSP Altaf Hussain, of conducting an unfair and partial investigation to favour the accused.
