ISLAMABAD: PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari on Thursday got relief in the cases filed against him 25 years ago when the Islamabad High Court (IHC) acquitted the former president in National Accountability Bureau (NAB) corruption references. Granted the application to dismiss the appeals against the acquittal.
A two-member bench of Islamabad High Court headed by Chief Justice Athar Minullah heard the case.
Additional Prosecutor General Jahanzeb Khan appeared in Bharwana court on behalf of NAB.
NAB’s request to withdraw appeals against Asif Ali Zardari’s acquittal in four references was approved. The appeals are dismissed on merit,” the court said.
The anti-corruption watchdog had approached the court to withdraw appeals against the acquittal of the PPP co-chairman by the accountability court in the SGS, Kotecna, Arsis Tractors and ARY Gold references.
NAB said that only photocopies of documents against the former president are on record.
In its application, NAB had also said that the available documents are not in accordance with the law of evidence. It said that further prosecution of the appeals was an impossible task. Therefore, to fulfill the requirements of justice, the court should allow NAB to withdraw the appeals against Zardari’s acquittal.
The ARY Gold Reference and Ursus Tractors cases were filed in 2000 and 2001 and were acquitted by the court in December 2014. The case was initially made in 1998.
Asif Zardari was also acquitted by the accountability court on 24 November 2015 in the Kotecna and SGS references.
