ISLAMABAD, JUL 07 (DNA) – The Islamabad High Court (IHC) granted on Wednesday pre-arrest bail to former president and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari in a NAB inquiry pertaining to his alleged ownership of a pricey apartment in New York.
Earlier, the IHC has summoned PPP Co-Chairman and former president Zardari personally on Wednesday (today) in the case of his pre-arrest bail application rejecting his counsel Farooq H Naik’s plea to grant him exemption from court appearance citing his poor health condition.
The court said if the former president was granted exemption from court appearance, then it might set a precedent for others adding that it was a set rule that the petitioner seeking pre-arrest bail must be present during the hearing of his case.
The IHC division bench consisting of Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Amir Farooq heard the pre-arrest bail plea filed by the former president and granted him the interim bail till July 28. The IHC also directed the petitioner to submit surety bonds of Rs0.5 million to the court.
Though Mr Zardri is ill and is under treatment in hospital, he decided to appear before the court against the advice of his doctors. When Mr Zardari reached the court, he sought court’s permission to let his Land Cruiser pull over near the court room as he felt difficulty in walking. But the court did not give him the permission to bring his SUV inside the court premises.
The court issued a notice to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to file its reply to his bail plea on next hearing. The ex-president Asif Ali Zardari turned up before the court in pursuance of its summon.
He moved the bail petition in the Islamabad High Court after the bureau served him a notice along with a questionnaire to provide information about his Belair apartment. “This notice hinges around the property at the Belaire, 524 East 72nd Street, 37F, Manhattan, New York, United States,” read the notice.
It said an initial inquiry revealed that former president and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari owns the apartment, however, “this property does not figure out in the disclosures made by you in Pakistan”. “Moreover, there appears no lawful remittances by you from Pakistan for the acquisition of the said property as well.
In view thereof, you are requested to provide detailed answers to the enclosed questionnaire along with supporting information/documents concerning the subject Apartment in New York City, United States,” the notice said. He reached Islamabad from Karachi yesterday night where he was hospitalised. Sources said he wa taken out of airport on a wheelchair.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had issued a call-up notice to the former president on June 15 directing him to appear before the accountability watchdog on June 24. The NAB was investigating into Mr Zardari’s ownership of a flat in New York.
But the former president filed an application in the IHC terming the NAB’s call-up notice baseless and an attempt to soil his name. The petition denied NAB’s claim that the property belonged to Mr Zardari and that the notice was issued just to harass him at the behest of PTI government. The petition pleaded to the court to grant him an interim bail till the case was decided.
When Mr Zardari came out of the court, the media persons started asking questions from him. Responding to a question whether he was heading to reconciliation or resistance, the former president replied that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was the commander of anti-government movement.
To another question that if he still believed that he would come only for three years in government during one of his speeches, Mr Zardari laughed it out telling the journalist ‘you yourself have been whisked away. You also want others to be whisked away.’
On Nawaz Sharif’s return to the country, the PPP co-chairman said it’s good if he came back and if he didn’t, it’s up to him. He satirically remarked that Mian Sahib’s domicile was better than his.
He stated that Bilawal was not going to America on some visit, he was going there to attend a conference. On a question about the fate of PTI government, Mr Zardari bounced back the question to the journalist: ‘Do you see any PTI government’?
On AJK elections, he said that the same thing would happen in the Kashmir election that had been happening always. He was of the view that PPP was a solid party and we had been fighting in Kashmir for 50 to 60 years.
A journalist asked him ‘do you have any message for ‘selectors’? On this, the former president said why should he convey his message through him as he could deliver his message to the ‘selectors’ by himself. = DNA
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 – The Islamabad High Court (IHC) granted on Wednesday pre-arrest bail to former president and PPP co-ch){kind=link}