Polo Ground Reference: IHC to take up NAB's plea against Zardari's acquittal on April 18
The anti-graft watchdog had challenged the accountability courts verdict
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday fixed National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) plea against acquittal of former president and Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zadari in Polo Ground Reference for hearing.
Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) Divisional Bench will take up the case on April 18.
The anti-graft watchdog had challenged the accountability court’s verdict of acquitting the former president in the polo ground reference.
A two-member bench of the IHC comprises of Chief Justice IHC Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Mian Gull Hassan Aurangzeb will hear the case.
In 2014, an accountability court had acquitted former president Asif Ali Zardari in the polo ground reference, but rejected his acquittal plea in two other corruption references (SGS and Cotecna), directing the prosecution to proceed further with these cases.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed the polo-ground corruption reference in the Accountability Court in 2000, and implicated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and spouse Asif Ali Zardari along with two former CDA chairmen Shafi Sehwani and Saeed Mehdi. The former CDA chairmen were alleged to have constructed a polo ground in the Prime Minister House during Benazir Bhutto’s first term in office at the expense of public money.
The names of Benazir Bhutto and ex-chairman CDA Shafi Sahwani were dropped from the reference after their death.
It was alleged in the reference that the construction of the polo ground was executed on verbal orders from Zardari and Mehdi. The polo ground cost an estimated Rs 52.29 million loss to the national exchequer.
