ISLAMABAD: Former president Asif Ali Zardari on Monday filed an application before the accountability court hearing fake accounts case seeking delay in framing of charges against him and others in Thatta Water supply reference.

The accountability court judge, Muhamamd Azam Khan, on July 14, had fixed Aug 4 for indictment of Zardari and others in the Thatta water supply case through Skype or video link facility. The NAB Karachi was directed to arrange facility for this purpose. Zardari filed an application through his counsel, Farooq H Naek, seeking postponement of indictment. The application says that on June 30th, the applicant has filed an application for quashment of instant reference on which this court was pleased to issue notices to respondent the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for filing of comments, and the matter was adjourned for Aug 4th.

In the given circumstances and keeping in view the other facts, it is in the greater interest of justice that the quashment application be heard, and decided by this court before framing the charges against the applicant and others.

Any further arrangements qua the framing of charges as directed by this court in the order dated Aug 4 would be amounting to unnecessary step as well as futile exercise, it says.

The applicant requested to postpone framing of charge against the applicant till the final decision of the quashment application already field by the accused.

The bureau had not nominated Zardari in the interim reference: and nominated him and Ashfaq Leghari and in-charge Naudero House Nadeem Bhutto in the supplementary reference.

In the interim reference, the bureau nominated 13 accused including Ejaz Ahmed Khan, former secretary of Special Initiative Department of Sindh; Hassan Memon, project director/chairman of the procurement committee for the water supply scheme, Thatta; members of the committee namely, Ali Akbar Abro, Aijaz Ahmed Memon, Athar Nawaz Durrani, Abdul Haleem Memon, Mohammad Farrukh Khan, Mohammad Ramzan, Mohammad Siddiq Sulemani and Zeeshan Hasan Yousaf, a private contractor Harish, CEO Omni Group Khawaja Abdul Ghani Majeed, and Minahal Majeed.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020