Corruption references: NAB court puts off Zardari’s indictment till December 23

Court accepts exemption from appearance plea.

ISLAMABAD:

An accountability court on Monday deferred the indictment of former president Asif Ali Zardari in four corruption references as he failed to appear in court again.

Zardari’s counsel, Farook H Naek, on Monday submitted a fresh application before the court to seek the court’s exemption for the former president’s appearance for ‘security reasons’. The court accepted the request and directed him to appear on December 23. The court also served notices to witnesses in the case.

At the next hearing, the court will formally indict the former president in all five references in the Polo Ground, SGS, ARY, Ursus tractors and Cotecna cases filed under the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Ordinance 1999.

The references against the former president were reopened following the end of his immunity.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 10^th, 2013.