Money laundering case: Zardari, Talpur get 8th extension in interim bail

Bail pleas of Anwar Majeed, AG Majeed deferred till Feb 6

KARACHI: A banking court extended the interim bails of former president Asif Ali Zardari, Faryal Talpur and others accused in the mega money laundering case till February 14.

This was the eighth time that the bail granted to the two Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leaders has been extended in the case. Meanwhile, the bail pleas of other accused persons, Anwar Majeed and Abdul Ghani Majeed, were deferred till February 6. The latter are currently in prison.

The banking court heard the case in Karachi on Wednesday. Accused Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur, Anwar Majeed's son Namar Majeed, Zulqarnain, Ali Majeed and others appeared in court.

The jail officials also presented Abdul Ghani Majeed and Hussain Lawai before the court. Medical certificate of Anwar Majeed was also presented before the court by jail officials.

As the PPP leaders arrived at the court premises, dozens of party workers who had gathered to receive him, shouted slogans in his favour.

FIA against bail proceedings

FIA prosecutor Bakhtiar Ahmed Channa took the stance that the case was being transferred to the National Accountability Bureau, therefore no proceedings should be conducted in the matter of bail pleas.

 

Zardari’s lawyer implicated in money laundering case

Meanwhile, Anwar Majeed's counsel argued that his clients, Majeed and his son, Abdul Ghani Majeed, should be granted bail, since the Supreme Court had announced its verdict.

He added that the SC's stay order for the banking court not to pass any orders wasn't applicable anymore. Stay order is not applicable now.

The prosecutor, however, said that the proceedings on the bails should be stopped till the investigations were completed.

No one has SC orders

The banking court remarked that the SC had also ordered to put the issue before the compliance bench.

The FIA prosecutor argued that the Supreme Court has not taken its stay order back. To this, the judge inquired if anyone had a copy of the SC's order. The FIA prosecutor responded that the official judgment's copy hadn't been received yet.

At this point, Anwar Majeed's counsel jumped in, asking how the FIA prosecutor could argue the case here without having read the SC order. The SC's order was then read aloud before the banking court, over which Anwar Majeed's counsel asked where it stated that the stay order be maintained.

Read the JIT report indicting Zardari, Omni group

The Supreme Court has passed the order, reiterated Majeed's counsel, adding that the banking court was now free to pass any orders. Anwar Majeed and Abdul Ghani Majeed have been imprisoned for the five months.

The FIA prosecutor argued that the agency's investigation officer was busy in Islamabad. Time should be granted to examine the records. The court questioned how the case could be allowed to proceed when neither the FIA investigation officer was present there nor the FIA's records. Let the Supreme Court's order, investigation officer and record come to court.

Extending Zardari and Talpur's bails till February 14, the court deferred the hearing on Anwar Majeed and AG Majeed's bail pleas till February 6.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 24^th, 2019.