Accountability Court adjourns Zardari corruption, Sadiq appointment cases
Both the case hearings were adjourned without any proceeding.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Islamabad Accountability Court adjourned the hearing of two corruption cases against Former President Asif Ali Zardari as the defendant’s lawyer Farooq H Naek falls ill. Reference against six including the former Prime Ministers Yousaf Raza Gillani and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf could not also be heard today (Tuesday).
Judge of the Islamabad Accountability Court, Muhammad Bashir, heard the references of Ursus tractor and ARY Gold against Asif Zardari. His lawyer requested to lend some more time on the excuse of sickness. Court accepted the request and adjourned the hearing till September 8. Both the cases are to be argued in the next hearing session.
On the other hand, six including the former Prime Ministers Yousaf Raza Gillani and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf could not be indicted in the case regarding the appointment of Former Chairman Oil and Gas Regularity Authority (OGRA), Tauqeer Sadiq. The hearing has been adjourned till September 9.
In the previous week, the Accountability Court accepted Asif Ali Zardari’s counsel Farooq Naek’s plea for re-argument. The hearing of former president and co-chairperson of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Asif Ali Zardari’s acquittal plea regarding five corruption references took place in the Accountability Court in Islamabad on July 15. During the case hearing, Farooq Naek’s request to present arguments again was accepted by the court. Saying that there is no mention of any corruption by former president in the Lahore High Court’s ruling, he appealed presenting the LHC’s decision before the court. Regarding SGS and Cotecna reference case Farooq Naek said that he wants to present some further details. The court directed submission of documents and was adjourned till July 22.
The court reserved its judgment on Zardari’s acquittal plea, regarding five corruption references on May 20. He is facing five references filed by NAB 17 years ago, including the Ursus tractors deal, the ARY case, the polo ground case, and the Cotecna and SGS cases. The judgment was reserved after Zardari’s counsel Farooq Naek’s argument. The bench had previously reopened graft cases against Zardari after his presidential term expired. Naek in his argument stated that the record submitted by the prosecution was invalid as it was a mere photocopied document without legal significance.
He further argued that the reference was filed against Zardari under the Ehtesab Act promulgated in the previous Pakistan Muslim League-N regime under which maximum punishment for any offense was not more than seven years.
POLO GROUND CASE
This deals with the illegal construction of a polo ground and other ancillary works at the PM House during Benazir Bhutto’s term. The court had acquitted Saeed Mehdi after the death of former Capital Development Authority chairman, Shafi Sehwani.
SGS
This reference was filed in 1997 alleging Bhutto and her spouse to have received kickbacks in a pre-shipment contract between government and SGS. All the accused persons were absolved except Zardari.
ARY CASE
The grant of licences to ARY Traders for import of gold and silver allegedly caused losses to the public exchequer, amounting to approximately Rs18.2 million.
URSUS TRACTORS DEAL
The Urusus tractors deal alleged misappropriation in the purchase of 5900 Russian and Polish tractors for Awami Tractor Scheme. The co-accused, Nawab Yousaf Talpur and AH Kango were also acquitted by the court. The Ursus tractors purchase deal caused a loss of of Rs268.3 million to ADBP and Rs1.67 billion to the State Bank of Pakistan.
COTECNA CASE
Coctena case was related to the award for a contract for supervising pre-shipment at Karachi airport. The contract was allegedly awarded to the Swiss company Cotecna in exchange for a bribe during Bhutto’s second term. Bhutto and her husband both were accused of taking 6 percent of the revenue from the Swiss Company.
