ISLAMABAD: The Accountability Court hearing multi-billion rupees fake bank accounts case on Wednesday decided to indict former president Asif Ali Zardari via video link in the Thatta Water Supply Scheme reference on August 4th.

The Accountability Court judge, Muhammad Azam Khan, while hearing the case, directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to make arrangements for indictment of Zardari through video link as he excused himself from appearing before the court owing to his health condition.

"I have been suffering from various diseases as well as due to spread of the coronavirus cannot appear before the court," Zardari said in his statement before the court, which he submitted through his counsel, Farooq H Naek.

The court also declared the co-accused in the case, Ashfaq Leghari, an absconder, separating his case from Zardari's reference.

The bureau had not nominated Zardari in the interim reference: and nominated him and Ashfaq Leghari and In-charge Naudero House Nadeem Bhutto in the supplementary reference.

In the 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, 2020