ISLAMABAD – An accountability court in the federal capital has adjourned the hearing of fake bank accounts case till 9th of the next month.
PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur appeared before the court to file an application for extension in their interim bail which ends today (Monday).
A two-member bench, comprising of Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani, heard the application.
Strict security measures were formulated and implemented around the court and its premises, and a heavy contingent of police had been deployed to prevent any untoward incident during the hearing. Entry of unauthorized persons into the court was restricted; however, media persons were allowed to access the courtroom.
Contrarily, the NAB has pleaded with the court, in its written reply, to not extend their bail. Meanwhile, the court accepted an application of exemption from personal appearance in the hearing today, filed on behalf of four accused persons from the total 30 suspects nominated by the National Accountability Court (NAB) in the same case.
On April 16, NAB prosecutor Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi had told the court that some accused persons in the case were imprisoned in Karachi’s Malir Jail and were not produced during the hearing.
To which, the judge expressed displeasure and warned of a show cause notice to Sindh government, if the accused persons were not produced in the next hearing. Except the four accused persons, attendance of all other suspects were marked in the court, whereas bailable arrest warrants were issued for four persons including, Iqbal, Azam, Nisar and Adnan.
The NAB prosecutor had also told the court that two accused women namely Kiran Aman and Noreen Sultan – who had expressed their willingness to become approvers against Zardari, his sister Talpur and other Primary accused persons in the case – have submitted their application with the NAB.
However, the process of their becoming approvers and application has not been completed yet. They are among the 30 accused nominated in the case by NAB. To which, the court had ordered to issue notices to all accused persons who were not appearing for the hearings.
