ISLAMABAD, Sep 30 (APP): The Islamabad High Court on Wednesday sought comments from National Accountability Bureau on petitions of former president Asif Ali Zardari challenging the accountability court’s jurisdiction in Park Lane Company and mega money laundering references.
The former president also prayed the IHC bench to issue a stay order in the trial against him pertaining to fake accounts references in accountability courts. A division bench comprising of Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Ghulam Azam Qambrani conducted the hearing. At the outset, the petitioner’s lawyer Farouk H. Naek contended that the NAB had no authority to conduct a trial in the above references as fake accounts was a subject that fell in the jurisdiction of banking courts.
Earlier, the accountability court had dismissed his petitions against the trial and the former president had challenged its judgment before IHC’s bench. The petitioner prayed the court to dismiss the Park Lane and mega money laundering references or send the same to chairman NAB for exclusion of Asif Ali Zardari’s names from accused lists. Farouk H. Naek informed the court that Park Lane company’s loan case was also pending with a banking court. He prayed the court to stop the trial in the accountability court till the judgment of the banking court.
The bench rejected the stay order request of the petitioner against his trial and declared that it would pass an order after listening to the anti graft body’s stance. Farouk H. Naek pleaded that his client had moved two petitions to the accountability court–one had challenged the jurisdiction of NAB and the accountability court while the other had prayed to dismissed the references. He said that the trial court had dismissed their case while ignoring the legal facts into the matter.
The bench served notices to NAB and adjourned the hearing of the case till October 14. It may be mentioned here that the trial court had already indicted former president Asif Ali Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur and others accused in the mega money laundering reference.
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