Faryal Talpur. PHOTO: FILE
The court ordered Talpur - the sister of former president Asif Ali Zardari - to be presented on July 8 and approved her transit remand for attending the Sindh Assembly session. The PPP leader was arrested by NAB on June 14 in the fake accounts case.
Accountability Court judge Arshad Malik heard the case.
When the case was taken up, Senator Saher Kamran apprised the court that Talpur could not be presented as the NAB car had broken down. Due to the delay, Talpur was brought in at 1:30pm.
NAB apprised the court about the details obtained during investigation. Talpur’s counsel asked for a photocopy of the investigation report.
Latif Khosa said, “No action has been taken against Aleema Bibi. Now, the reach has extended to people’s mothers and sisters. You should make additional copies.”
Taking the proceedings forward, the court called Talpur to the rostrum.
Judge Malik inquired, “Were you taken to the hospital?”
Talpur replied, “A medical team came. There is a problem of blood pressure. Blood pressure is high. And I am diabetic.”
The judge again inquired, “Do you suffer from hyper tension?”
Talpur replied, “Yes.” To this, the judge remarked, “The people who have cases against them usually do get hyper tension.”
NAB prosecutor apprised the court that Talpur says that Zardari Group supplies sugarcane.
“We want to record the statements of the owners of the land on which sugarcane is cultivated. On their statements, Talpur will also be asked questions,” said the prosecutor.
Talpur has admitted to transferring money during investigation. Talpur says she did not know that the accounts were fake. Talpur transferred money to Owais Muzaffar. She said that the money was given by Abdul Majeed Ghani. She distanced herself from the joint venture agreement. She even distanced herself from the joint account of Mushtaq Ahmed and Zain Malik. They say that the money came from Omni Group for sugarcane. Talpur now says that she does not know which sugar mill sent the money. She says that sugarcane was sold but does not know to which mill it was sold to.
Talpur’s counsel Farooq H Naek said her client had no role in Park Lane. Loan was taken from Summit Bank for Park Lane.
Khosa said, “Faryal Talpur has less than one per cent shares in Zardari Group.”
Mocking NAB, Khosa said, “NAB is doing a very transparent job. May they be blessed enough to carry on with their work in a transparent manner … why can’t they see anything about Aleema Baji?
“They did the same with BB [Benazir] Shaheed. They can do whatever they want to. We are tolerating this for the last 20 years.”
Investigation officer apprised the court that Talpur said that the money was obtained by selling land and sugarcane. “We have asked for the record to verify her statement.”
Strict security arrangements were in place for Talpur’s hearing.
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