The Supreme Court on Tuesday disposed of as withdrawn two pending appeals in the cases of President Asif Ali Zardari after it was brought into its notice that the appeals, pending since 1999, had become infructuous as the cases had already been decided in favour of Zardari.
A three-member bench of the apex court, comprising Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan and Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, heard the appeals. In one case, the appeal was related to the freezing of Zardari's assets on the orders of an accountability bench of the Sindh High Court in 1997. The other appeal was filed by the Sindh government in 1997 against the transfer of a criminal case against Zardari from an anti-terrorism court to a trial court by Sindh High Court.
Abu Bakkar Zardari, counsel for Asif Ali Zardari, submitted to the court on Tuesday that the appeal related to freezing of assets had been decided, thus he wanted to withdraw it. About the other appeal filed by the Sindh government in Supreme Court in 1999, Prosecutor General of Sindh Shahadat Awan told the court that the case had been decided in favour of Zardari, thus it may be treated as withdrawn.
Muhammad Alam Baloch, former Federal Secretary Irrigation, was killed on October 17, 1997 while on way to a court at Hyderabad. Later, Muhammad Ramzan, cousin of Muhammad Alam Baloch, lodged an FIR with Qasimabad police station against nine persons, including Asif Ali Zardari and his father Hakim Ali Zardari, for their alleged involvement in the murder of Alam Baloch.
An Anti-Terrorism Court of Karachi conducted the trial of the case. Later, Asif Zardari filed an appeal before an accountability bench of the Sindh High Court, requesting the transfer of the case from ATC to a trial court, which was allowed by the court.
However, the Sindh government had moved the Supreme Court against the transfer of the case from an ATC to a trial court. In 2008, the Hyderabad District and Sessions Court acquitted Zardari in the murder case of Alam Baloch. An assets reference was filed against Zardari in 1990. Zardari had filed a plea against a verdict of the Sindh High Court, which imposed the ban on the sale of his (Zardari) assets till final decision of the case. Later, the asset reference was quashed under the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).
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