ARY Gold reference: Court reserves verdict on Farooqi’s plea
Principal secretary to the president along with the ARY directors seek acquittal in the case.
RAWALPINDI:
An accountability court on Thursday reserved the decision on the acquittal plea of Salman Farooqi, the principal secretary to President Asif Ali Zardari, after recording the statements of all the accused in the ARY Gold corruption reference.
Judge Mian Altaf Hussain Mahar put off the hearing of the reference till June 14 on the application of Farooqi who, through his counsel Arshad Tabraiz, has sought acquittal.
According to the prosecution, the accused granted exemption of duties to the ARY owner for import of gold and silver between 1995 and 1997 causing billions of rupees loss to the national exchequer.
Farooqi, the former federal secretary of commerce, through his lawyer maintained that so far the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) could not produce any witness against him showing his involvement in the case.
Tabraiz said, the two companies that were declined the licences for import of gold, Al-Raheem and Sons and Al-Romason Traders, have nothing to do with Salman Farooqi. The two companies were not issued the licences after the media reports claimed that they did not qualify for the licence.
Besides Farooqi, three directors of the ARY Gold, Haji Abdur Razzaq Yaqoob, Abdur Rauf and Jan Muhammad, are also among the accused. They will get their statements recorded under the section 342 of criminal procedure code before the court. The accused have also moved a court for acquittal in the case.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 10th, 2011.
An accountability court on Thursday reserved the decision on the acquittal plea of Salman Farooqi, the principal secretary to President Asif Ali Zardari, after recording the statements of all the accused in the ARY Gold corruption reference.
Judge Mian Altaf Hussain Mahar put off the hearing of the reference till June 14 on the application of Farooqi who, through his counsel Arshad Tabraiz, has sought acquittal.
According to the prosecution, the accused granted exemption of duties to the ARY owner for import of gold and silver between 1995 and 1997 causing billions of rupees loss to the national exchequer.
Farooqi, the former federal secretary of commerce, through his lawyer maintained that so far the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) could not produce any witness against him showing his involvement in the case.
Tabraiz said, the two companies that were declined the licences for import of gold, Al-Raheem and Sons and Al-Romason Traders, have nothing to do with Salman Farooqi. The two companies were not issued the licences after the media reports claimed that they did not qualify for the licence.
Besides Farooqi, three directors of the ARY Gold, Haji Abdur Razzaq Yaqoob, Abdur Rauf and Jan Muhammad, are also among the accused. They will get their statements recorded under the section 342 of criminal procedure code before the court. The accused have also moved a court for acquittal in the case.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 10th, 2011.