An accountability court once again adjourned the indictment of former president Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur in the money laundering reference.

The court could not proceed with the indictment due to the absence of Judge Azam Khan, local media reported. A plea bargain report pertaining to the reference is expected to be presented in court at the next hearing on July 29.

This is the third time that the court has deferred the indictment of the siblings. On July 7, Zardari could not be indicted in the Park Lane case after his counsel Farooq H Naek filed a petition.

The petition requested the court to stop the indictment as the proceedings against Zardari were not legally justified.

The National Accountability Bureau has accused Zardari and Talpur of owning shares of the Zardari Group, a company that received some of the funds from the embezzled Rs4.4 billion.