PPP Co-Chairperson Asif Ali Zardari. PHOTO: AFP
ISLAMABAD: Former president Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday requested the apex court to dismiss a petition seeking recovery of the losses Pakistan incurred after the promulgation of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) in 2007 terming it ‘politically motivated’.
In his reply to the petition in the Supreme Court, which also nominates former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf and former attorney general Malik Abdul Qayyum as respondents, Zardari maintained that the appeal was a frivolous and classic example of politically motivated attempt to malign and inflict political damage to him and his party—Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPP).
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He argued that the appeal was filed on malicious design in order to defame, disparage and malign the reputation of PPP via Zardari.
The petitioner, Feroz Shah Gilani, had requested the court to order recovery of "huge amounts of public money" misappropriated and wasted by them [respondents] through unlawful means "already on record in different judgments of the Supreme Court and high court".
The PPP co-chairsperson claimed to have suffered “political victimisation and mudslinging throughout the course of the history”. The statement said he was made target of political vendetta and vengeance and served at least 11 years in jail and has “faith in the independence of judiciary and justice system of Pakistan”.
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The reply stresses that Zardari was acquitted in all cases.
Explaining the circumstances behind NRO, Zardari said in 2007 “certain political elements realised that politically motivated cases existed against politicians and it was in no one’s benefit to continue with their prosecution."
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