Zardari moves SC against Registrar Office’s order

Former president seeks transfer of 4 NAB references from Islamabad to Karachi

Former president Asif Zardari has appealed against the Registrar Office’s objections to his petition for transfer of four references filed against him in the accountability courts in Islamabad to an accountability court in Karachi.

Supreme Court Justice Umar Ata Bandial will hear the appeal in his chamber on November 25 against the Registrar Office’s order issued on November 10.

PPP Co-chairman Zardari on November 3 approached the Supreme Court, requesting it to transfer the NAB Toshakhana – gift repository – reference from Islamabad’s Accountability Court No III to a court in Karachi in view of Zardari’s ill health.

The PPP leader had also claimed that he had been implicated in politically motivated cases. however, the Registrar’s Officer declared his civil miscellaneous appeal (CMA) as “not entertainable” because NAB filed the reference in view of an order of the Supreme Court.

The PPP leader has challenged the Registrar Office’s order, claiming that it is not sustainable in law. The appeal said it was the constitutional right of the appellant to knock the door of the top court but the Registrar Office order shows that the rights of the appellant have been blocked.

The PPP co-chairperson faced multiple corruption cases that stemmed from a mega money laundering scandal, which came to the fore in 2018. Zardi, his sister Faryal Talpur, and several of their business associates are being tried over fake accounts and fictitious transactions.