Indictment of ex-PM Gilani put off till Feb 3

Court heard graft reference against the PPP leader filed by NAB

ISLAMABAD:

An Accountability Court (AC) postponed the indictment of former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and others due to incomplete attendance of all accused during a hearing on Tuesday of a reference pertaining to illegal award of advertising campaign contract.

AC-II Judge Muhammad Azam Khan heard the graft reference against the former prime minister filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). When the attendance of the accused was not completed, the judge said that the court was fixing a date in February for the indictment.

However, there were laughter in the courtroom, when the defence quipped that whatever date in February court wanted to fix, but it should not be February 14, a reference to the Valentine’s Day, which is celebrated in several countries.

On this occasion, NAB requested for issuance of arrest warrants against former IT secretary Farooq Awan for being continuously absent. NAB said that the accused was abroad since long time, adding that accused had been hiding deliberately and used to file exemption request on medical grounds.

The court summoned the investigation officer (IO) and said that a decision would be made after hearing the IO. The court then directed Gilani and others to appear before it on the next hearing on February 3.