Asif Ali Zardari granted permanent bail in fake accounts case

IHC accepts the plea on medical grounds; restrains NAB from arresting the PPP co-chair

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has granted a permanent bail to former president Asif Ali Zardari in the fake accounts case and stopped the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) – the country’s top graft buster – from arresting him.

An IHC division, comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Aamer Farooq, granted the bail to the PPP supreme leader on Wednesday on medical grounds. NAB chairman had issued Zardari’s arrest warrants in the case.

Earlier, NAB Deputy Prosecutor General Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi told the court that the matter was still at the stage of investigation and that the anti-graft watchdog had not yet filed reference against Zardari. He said NAB had not challenged the bails earlier granted to the former president in other graft cases.

Zardari's counsel Farooq H Naek told the court that his client had earlier been remanded in NAB custody for two months, during which the bureau's investigation officer should have interrogated him.

Also read: Still don't trust him: Khawaja Asif on Asif Zardari

He said his client is still ready to be quizzed by NAB investigators. Judge Kayani asked the NAB prosecutor if he had any objections to the medical report presented in the court by Zardari.

“It has happened in the past that NAB declared the medical reports of accused persons fake,” the judge added. He also asked if there was any chance of the petitioner leaving the country after getting a bail.

Naek said his client's name is on the Exit Control List (ECL) so he cannot go abroad. The court later accepted the petition and granted a permanent bail.

Asif Ali Zardari is facing multiple corruption cases that stem from a mega-money laundering scandal, which came to limelight in 2018.

In September, an accountability court in Islamabad indicted the former president, his sister Faryal Talpur and other accused in the case in which around Rs35 billion were transferred through 29 fake accounts.