Polo ground case: Court reserves verdict on Zardari’s acquittal plea

NAB official says charge-sheet ready.

ISLAMABAD:

An accountability court on Monday reserved its verdict on an application requesting acquittal from the polo ground reference case filed by former president Asif Ali Zardari.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed five references including the polo ground reference against Zardari 17 years ago. The reference is related to the illegal construction of a polo ground and other ancillary works at the Prime Minister House, allegedly on the orders of Zardari and his co-accused.

The court had acquitted co-accused Saeed Mehdi, a former principle secretary to the prime minister, while the case against Shafi Sehwani, a former Capital Development Authority chairman, was withdrawn after his death.

Zardari’s counsel, Farook H Naek said that instead of NAB, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) carried out the investigation, which was in violation of the NAB Ordinance.  He said that NAB, not the FIA, was supposed to investigate the matter.

During the last hearing, Naek had submitted five applications requesting the court to acquit his client, arguing that the prime suspect in the case, Mehdi, had already been acquitted and co-accused Sehwani had passed away.

On October 11, 2013, the court reopened five references against Zardari including the polo ground case.  In January this year, Zardari appeared before the court in the same case. Later he was exempted from personal appearances.

During the course of hearing on Monday, NAB Additional Deputy Prosecutor General Akbar Tarar informed the court that a charge-sheet against the accused was ready. He requested the court to summon Zardari for indictment.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 25^th, 2014.