Former President and Co-Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Asif Ali Zardari Monday said that his party will support Emir Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Maulana Fazlur Rehman's campaign to bring down the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government. Following appearance before Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Arshad Malik in the connection with the fake bank account case, when the former president was asked by a media person if his party would join JUI-F chief's anti-government campaign, he said, "God willing."
He said that either National Accountability Bureau (NAB) or economy would run. "Both NAB and economy cannot run together," Zardari added. To a question whether the PTI-led government will complete its tenure, he replied, "God forbid."
About ongoing treatment of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, he prayed for Sharif's health and said if necessary, he (Sharif) may go abroad for treatment.
Earlier Asif Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur and other accused appeared before the court. The court marked the attendance of all the accused persons and adjourned hearing of the case till May 9.
At the start of hearing, the court inquired about the production of five accused persons who are in judicial custody. During the previous hearing, the court had issued directions to the Sindh chief secretary to issue production order for the five accused to ensure their presence in the court.
The NAB prosecutor informed the court that the bureau has so far not received reply from chief secretary Sindh despite a letter written to him in this regard.
About three other accused including Nasir Abdullah, Azam Nazir and Iqbal Arian, the investigation officer of the case Muhammad Ali Abro informed the court that Nasir Abdullah, who is the chairman of the Summit Bank, is currently in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). "The bureau has obtained his travel history and issued his arrest warrant through Interpol," he said, adding that Iqbal Arian had passed away.
About Azam Wazir, he said that he is a Pakistani national and is currently abroad. The bureau has also processed his arrest warrant via Interpol, he added. During the course of hearing, another accused, Sher Muhammad, a banker, requested the court that he wants to become an approver. During the previous hearing, two other accused Kiran Aman and Noreen Sultan had informed the court that they wanted to become approvers. The NAB prosecutor informed the court that their applications are still under process.
The accused Muhammad requested the court that he be allowed to testify as a witness. On this, the NAB prosecutor told the court that his application has been received by the bureau and is under review.
The court directed both Zardari and Talpur to ensure their presence in the court during hearings. The court approved their bail applications and asked them to submit surety bonds of Rs 20 million each.
The investigation officer told the court that he will prepare and submit paper books of the case record in the next couple of days.
After the distribution of paper books of the case, the court will indict the accused on the next hearing. There are a total of 30 accused - Zardari, Talpur, Hussain Lawai, Taha Raza, Anwar Majeed, Abdul Ghani Majeed, Noreen Sultan, Kiran Aman, Adeel Shah Rashidi, Muhammad Ashraf, Qasim Ali, Shahzad Ali, Sher Muhammad, Zain Malik, Iqbal Khan Noori, Nimr Majeed, Mustafa Zulqarnain, Aslam Masood, Muhammad Arif Khan, Nassar Abdullah, Adnan Javed, Muhammad Umair, Iqbal Arian, Azam Wazir Khan, Christopher D Craz, Muhammad Nasir Sheikh, Ghanzanfar Ahsan, Sawoodi Morkas, Muhammad Raheel Mobin, and Ali Kamal Majeed.
Meanwhile, the NAB produced two more accused Sher Ali and Mohammad Farooq Adbdullah before the court and the court handed over both the accused to NAB on physical remand for 11 days.
The NAB arrested both the accused in Karachi and shifted them to Islamabad. Abdullah is former area manager and branch manger of Habib Bank Limited, Karachi while Ali is ex-manger operation of Habib Bank Limited, Karachi.
Both the accused were allegedly involved in extending a loan to Parthenon Private Ltd, a front company of Park Lane Estate, purportedly owned by Asif Ali Zardari.
The investigation officer said that the principal accused in the case in connivance with the manger of Park Lane firm, Muhammad Hanif managed to obtain Rs 1.5 billion loan from HBL and got pay orders prepared in the name of fake persons to hide the beneficial owners. The court also approved physical remand of accused Adnan Javed for 14 days while handed over two accused Umair and Arif to NAB for another 10 days.
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