RAWALPINDI (Web Desk) – An accountability court in Rawalpindi on Friday initiated proceedings against former president Asif Ali Zardari in an assets reference.
The Rawalpindi Accountability Court summoned Zardari on April 27 in a reference which accused him and his slain wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, of acquiring assets illegally, local media reported.
Accountability court judge Raja Ikhlaq Hussain heard a petition by Special Prosecutor Raja Khurram Ejaz which he had filed on behalf of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry.
The application said that Zardari’s immunity had ended with the termination of his presidential tenure on Sept 8, 2013, and requested that the assets reference against him be reopened.
The name of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto – who was a co-accused in the case – was eliminated from the reference following her death in 2007.
Approving the application, the court ordered Zardari to appear before it on April 27 and subsequently adjourned the matter to the said date.
In 2014, the Islamabad accountability court had acquitted Zardari in three corruption references filed by NAB 17 years ago.
Zardari is still facing two references – SGS and Contecna – and on December 22 last year, the court had rejected his acquittal plea and the cases have been fixed for January 8 for further hearing.
