Asif Zardari will be indicted on Monday

ISLAMABAD: The accountability court has once again postponed the indictment of former president Asif Ali Zardari and other accused in the Park Lane reference and fixed August 10 as the new date.

Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Azam Khan heard Asif Ali Zardari's request to delete the reference in the Park Lane reference.

Asif Ali Zardari's lawyer Farooq H Naik appeared in the court and Deputy Prosecutor General of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi appeared.

During the hearing, the NAB rejected Asif Ali Zardari's plea and sought indictment.

The Deputy Prosecutor General told the court that Asif Zardari could not withdraw the petition after all the arguments were completed.

He said that the accused was deliberately using delaying tactics and after delaying the case for a month, he was withdrawing the petition today.

Asif Zardari's lawyer Farooq H Naik took a stand in the court that "Park Lane reference is not a NAB law but a case of financial law".

The judge remarked that the court would issue an order on Asif Ali Zardari's acquittal.

The court rejected both pleas of former president Asif Ali Zardari and set a date for indictment on Monday (August 10).

It is to be noted that petitions were filed by Asif Ali Zardari to remove the reference and challenge the jurisdiction of the court.

Asif Zardari is thought to have been accused by Parthenon Pvt Ltd, Park Lane State Pvt Ltd and others of being "involved in debt expansion and misuse".

In his arguments, Asif Zardari's lawyer Advocate Farooq H Naik had informed the court that the former president had been a director of Park Lane but he had resigned from the company in 2008 before assuming the office of president.

The defense counsel had said that the NAB, as usual, ignored all the financial rules while filing the reference against his client.

He had said that NAB could not take action against Asif Zardari in this case without the mandatory approval / reference of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

He said it was a case of intentional default and the SBP was the only forum that could initiate action against his client. However, the NAB took up the matter and violated the relevant financial laws. In this case, the investigation began.

Giving details of the case, the lawyer had pointed out that when Parthenon Pvt. Ltd. obtained the loan on October 30, 2009, President Asif Ali Zardari was not a director of the company but a shareholder of Park Lane.

He said that the board of directors of the company had accepted the resignation of Asif Ali Zardari but could not temporarily take the matter to the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP).

Besides, in the last hearing, the NAB had informed the accountability court that in the Park Lane reference, two accused have become pardoned witnesses against former President Asif Ali Zardari.

The NAB had earlier implicated former National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) presidents Ali Raza and Qamar Hussain in the case, but at the last hearing, the accountability body changed its position and added them to the list of prosecution witnesses. Was

Appearing before the accountability court, NAB Deputy Prosecutor General Sardar Muzaffar Khan Abbasi said that the two former heads of the bank were among the 61 witnesses whom the prosecution wanted to present in court to prove the allegations against the former president.

According to NAB, Ali Raza claimed in his confessional statement that Omni Group director Abdul Ghani Majeed was a "middle man" between the senior management of the NBP and the former president because he conveyed Asif Zardari's message for loan approval. Was

Opposing Asif Zardari's acquittal in the reference, the Deputy Prosecutor asked the court to charge him in the Park Lane case and enable the prosecution to present evidence against him and the other accused.