Top court to take up appeals of Zardari, Talpur on 26th

The top court will take up appeals of former president Asif Ali Zardari and MPA Faryal Talpur against transfer of fake bank accounts case from Karachi to Islamabad from November 26.

A two-judge bench comprising Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Ijazul Ahsan will hear the PPP leaders' appeals in fake accounts case.

Farooq H Naek on behalf of Asif Ali Zardari had filed an application on November 16 for early hearing of appeal wherein he challenged the Sindh High Court verdict.

The SHC in May this year had dismissed Zardari's applications against the transfer of a case (FIR No. 4/2018) against him from Karachi to Islamabad. It argued that the April 2 direction of the SHC was contrary to the facts as the apex court in its January 7 order had not given any direction for transfer of the case from the Karachi's banking court to Islamabad's accountability court.

The ex-president through a separate petition has also sought stay on the proceedings against him before the accountability court of Islamabad in the interest of justice.

The application contended that the fake accounts case had been pending trial before the accountability court of Islamabad since its transfer from Karachi's banking court. In case the trial commences, prejudice would be caused to the petitioner and the appeal pending before the SC, it apprehended, seeking grant of stay order.

In February, the apex court had rejected a set of review petitions by the ex-president in the Rs 35 billion fake accounts case with observations that in matters of institutional capture, the apex court was not helpless and could summon any executive authority to come in its aid for assistance. Through the review petitions, the former president, his sister Faryal Talpur, Chairman Omni Group of Companies Anver Majeed, Abdul Ghani Majeed of the Omni Group, Sindh government and miscellaneous applications by PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and many others had challenged the Jan 7 order of referring the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report to NAB.

The appeal recalled that the JIT in its final synthesis report of December 19, 2018 had requested the Supreme Court to approve referring the case from director general Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for taking further cognizance under the relevant provisions of NAB Ordinance, 1999. In the final synthesis report, the JIT prayed before the apex court to give appropriate directions to the NAB to investigate 16 different issues without mentioning the FIR pending trial before the apex court. But the Supreme Court did not pass any order for the transfer of the case to NAB, it said, observing that the high court decision of April 2 was a "misreading or non-reading" of the Jan 7 order passed by the apex court that had not given any direction for the filing of reference at Islamabad.

The high court committed a 'grave error' by misinterpreting the apex court order, the appeal stated, adding that the SHC failed to appreciate that from the plain reading of Section 16A(a) of the NAB Ordinance, it was crystal clear that although the NAB chairman could apply for the transfer of any case pending before any court to the accountability court under Section 16 A (a) of the ordinance, yet "only in the same province". Thus the SHC order was based on "misreading" of the NAB ordinance, the appeal argued.