Zardari gets interim bail in money laundering case

Banking court summons former president on September 4

KARACHI: A special banking court granted on Friday interim bail to Pakistan Peoples Party Co-Chairperson Asif Ali Zardari in the money laundering case against a sum of Rs20 million.

The court issued notice to the investigation officer of the case and summoned Zardari again on September 4, adjourning the hearing till the date.

During the hearing, Zardari's lawyer Farooq H Naik said the Islamabad High Court had granted 15-day protective bail to Zardari. He informed the court that his client was ready to face charges against him.



The court directed the former president to cooperate in the investigations. The court was informed that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) submitted on July 22 an interim challan of the case. The agency claimed that it had gained access to the bank account record of Zardari Group Pvt Ltd.

It was claimed that on May 15, 2014, Rs1.5 million were transferred from a fake account to the Summit Bank branch situated on Khayaban-e-Tanzeem, whereas, another Rs1.5 million were also transferred on the same date.

In the challan, the FIA nominated Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur and 20 others as absconders. On July 24, the court issued their non-bailable arrest warrants. Talpur got interim bail earlier, whereas, Zardari's interim bail was approved on Friday.

Media talk

Zardari also spoke to media personnel on the occasion. The former president appeared to be in high spirits.

A journalist asked the former president why he did not come in a helicopter as it was a cheaper mode of transport. Zardari told the journalist to wait as he would soon be arriving in a helicopter.

In reply to another question, he said no case against a politician was non-political. The PPP co-chairperson also remarked that Aitzaz Ahsan would be the next president.

Meanwhile, Naik said the anti-corruption law could not be applied to Zardari as he was not a government employee. He claimed that there were no allegations of money laundering against the former president as it was not even mentioned in the FIR.

The lawyer claimed that Zardari was falsely portrayed as an absconder. Everyone knows he was busy in the elections and it is surprising that he was declared an absconder, he said.

According to Naik, the government should keep check on whetehr its departments were working in accordance with the Constitution and law. If someone is not involved in any crime, they should not be harassed, the lawyer said, adding that if such harassments continued, people would stop trusting institutions.



Zardari has been a victim of political vengeance before as well and spent nine years in prison, Naik said. He claimed that not a single allegation against the former president was proved. The lawyer asserted that the case against Zardari was weak and the prosecution would not succeed in proving its charges against the former president.

The case was initiated in 2014 when the PPP was not in the federal government and was a part of the opposition, Naik remarked, suggesting that the case was a tool of political vengeance.