By Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday issued notices to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to submit comments on a petition of former president Asif Ali Zardari.
A two-judge bench comprising Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Ghulam Azam Qambrani directed them to submit their replies by next hearing slated for October 14. The PPP co-chairman moved the petition pleading with the IHC to quash money laundering and Park Lane references filed against him by the NAB.
Farooq H Naek, representing the PPP co-chairman, contended before the court that his client has challenged the accountability court’s jurisdiction to hear the mega money laundering case. He argued the court lacked jurisdiction to take up the case. To a question, he said that a banking court can hear such cases. The counsel said the SBP governor has not filed any reference against Zardari, nor has any notice served on him by the central bank.
On September 28, an Islamabad accountability court had indicted Asif Ali Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur, and other accused in a supplementary reference filed against them by the NAB in the mega money laundering scam. The court, however, deferred indictment of the accused in the Park Lane and Thatta water supply supplementary references until October 5 due to absence of some co-accused in both cases.
Meanwhile, Former president Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday moved an application before an Islamabad accountability court seeking permanent exemption from personal appearance during the trial in the Toshakhana case. He filed the plea through his lawyer Farooq H Naek, requesting the court to allow his representative to appear in court on his behalf due to security concerns.
Zardari, ex-PM Nawaz Sharif and former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani are named in the Toshakhana reference for allegedly obtaining luxury vehicles from the treasury by paying 15 per cent of the actual price. On September 24, the court had started recording statements of witnesses in the Toshakhana case.
Witness Imran Zafar, a former deputy director of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), recorded his statement saying he received a letter from the corruption watchdog on February 7, 2019, which sought details about the assets of Zardari and the nomination paper he had filed in 2008.
