ISLAMABAD: The Accountability Court hearing multi-billion rupees fake bank accounts case on Monday adjourned the hearing of Thatta Water Supply case involving former president Asif Ali Zadari and others without proceedings due to lawyers protest.

The Accountability Court-II judge, Muhammad Azam Khan, while hearing the case adjourned the hearing till February 22nd. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor, Irfan Bola, appeared before the court. Zardari’s counsel Farooq H Naek did not appear before the court as he was in the Supreme Court.

At the start of the hearing, associate of Zardari’s counsel and counsel of the other accused filed separate applications seeking exemption for their clients from personal appearance, which the court approved. The anti-graft body nominated Asif Ali Zardari and 13 other suspects, in the supplementary filed in connection with Thatta water supply scam. The bureau had not nominated Zardari in the interim reference, and Ashfaq Leghari, and the in-charge Naudero House, Nadeem Bhutto, in the supplementary reference.

In 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, 2021