The Supreme Court (SC) issued on Wednesday notice to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) over former president Asif Ali Zardari’s petition to transfer his NAB graft cases from Islamabad to Karachi.

During the hearing conducted by Justice Umar Ata Bandial, the SC heard Zardari’s plea through counsel Farooq H Naek. Zardari's counsel said that it is a legal right to apply for transfer of case and that the legal right cannot be revoked by court order.

The SC said that it will have to review the circumstances under which the SC ordered to file the reference in Islamabad’s accountability court. Referring to the SC's January 7, 2019 judgment where the top court had ordered to transfer all cases related to fake accounts from Karachi to Islamabad, the court said that it can neither stop nor change the decision of the court, The Express Tribunereported.

The SC inquired whether any reference was ever filed against the former president in Islamabad before. Zardari’s counsel replied that references were filed in Lahore and Rawalpindi, while one was also heard in Attock Fort.

Issuing notices to NAB, Faryal Talpur and other respondents in the case, the SC has adjourned the hearing for a month.