NA speaker issues production orders for Zardari, Saad and Khaqan

Talks underway with law ministry to determine whether production orders will be issued for Rana Sanaullah or not

ISLAMABAD:

National Assembly (NA) Speaker Asad Qaiser issued production orders for Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Saad Rafiq and former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi- enabling them to attend the ongoing NA sessions.

The three leaders were arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on separate charges of corruption.

Talks are also underway with the Ministry of Law to determine whether production orders will be issued for Rana Sanaullah or not. A copy of the production orders was also sent to the NAB chairman and DG.

The current NA sessions will continue until August 9.

Just last month, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court challenging the production orders of opposition leaders in national and provincial assemblies who are in custody on charges of corruption.

NA speaker issues production orders for Zardari, Saad

Asif Nawaz, in a petition filed through his counsel Asif Bajwa, states that the speakers of the NA and provincial assemblies had issued the production orders even though the custody of the accused legislators had been handed over to NAB on physical remand by courts.

The petition sought the nullification of the production orders issued for former president Asif Ali Zardari; his sister and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) legislator Faryal Talpur; Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief and NA Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif; his son Hamza Shehbaz, who is a PML-N vice-president and the opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly; PML-N MNA Saad Rafiq; and Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani.

The petition states that production orders cannot be issued in presence of the court orders. Therefore, the production orders do not have any legal status, it continued.

The application pleaded that the production orders issued during the physical remand of the accused be held null and void.