Park Lane reference against Zardari adjourned

ISLAMABAD, Oct 20 (APP):An Accountability Court (AC) on Tuesday adjourned hearing till Wednesday on Park Lane corruption reference against former president Asif Ali Zardari and other accused.

The court would continue recording the statements of NAB witnesses on next date of hearing.

AC-II Judge Muhammad Azam Khan conducted hearing on Park Lane reference moved by National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Asif Zardari and his lawyer Farouk H. Naek couldn’t appear before the court due to sickness.

The associate lawyer submitted a request for exemption from hearing to Asif Zardari and informed the court that Naek didn’t appear before court due to backache.

At the outset of hearing, the court observed that the witnesses had arrived from Karachi and it was difficult for them to bear travel expenditures again. The NAB prosecutor Sardar Muzafar Abbasi requested the court to issue arrest warrants against the accused on non-appearance as his department wanted to proceed the trial.

Later, the associate lawyer Mirza Shabbir told the court that he had taken instructions from Asif Zardari as his representative here. The court asked him to submit a formal application to it on next hearing to become a representative of the accused and granted one-day exemption from hearing to Zardari.

Meanwhile, recording his statement as NAB witness Joint Registrar Companies Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Ahsan Aslam stated that he had appeared before NAB investigation officer on May 8, 2019 in inquiry pertaining to Park Lane and Parthenon Company and presented the relevant record to him.

Zardari’s lawyer objected that the NAB prosecutor was assisting the witness where he forgets the facts. Sardar Muzafar Abbasisi answered that there shouldn’t be objection for objection.

The witness said that three seized memo of Park Lane reference were prepared before witnesses. After this, the court adjourned hearing on the case till Wednesday.