Hearing to be held today: NAB approaches IHC for withdrawal of appeals against Zardari’s acquittal

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Wednesday approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for the withdrawal of appeals against PPP co-chairperson and former president of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari’s acquittal in four corruption references.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan will hear the appeal on Thursday (today).

The anti-graft watchdog said in its application that only photocopies of the documents are on record in the references against Mr Zardari and therefore, further prosecution is impossible.

The NAB submitted four separate applications in the IHC to withdraw appeals against Zardari’s acquittal by the accountability court in the SGS and Cotecna, Ursus Tractors, Polo Ground and ARY Gold references and adopted the stance that only photocopies of the documents are on record against the former president.

It also mentioned that the available documents are not in accordance with the law of evidence. It stated that further prosecution on the appeals is an impossible task and therefore, to meet the requirements of justice, the court should allow the NAB to withdraw the appeals against Zardari’s acquittal.

The two cases, ARY Gold reference and Ursus Tractors, were filed in the years, 2000 and 2001, while the AC issued its verdict to acquit the PPP co-chair on December 12, 2014. Similarly, Zardari was acquitted by the accountability court in the Cotecna and SGS references on November 24, 2015.

The IHC will resume hearing in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB)’s appeal against a trial court’s verdict for acquitting the PPP co-chairman from the corruption references including SGS Cotecna, Polo Ground, Ursus tractors, and ARY import of gold in two references pertaining to Polo Ground and Ursus Tractors.

Earlier, the NAB had stated in its appeal that the trial court had no powers to acquit the accused in a corruption case. The anti-graft body had challenged the acquittal of Zardari by the accountability court in four references in 2014 and 2015.

The NAB had challenged the AC’s decision, wherein, Zardari was acquitted in four corruption references. The NAB had requested the IHC to declare the said verdicts of the AC as null and void. The NAB prosecutor had also requested the court to permit them to produce witnesses and evidence against Zardari before the court in this matter.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022