TDAP graft charges: Gilani gets interim bail in 11 cases till Oct 12

Counsel tells court his client is implicated in the cases with mala fide intent

KARACHI: An anti-corruption court on Monday granted interim bail to former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani till October 12 in 11 new cases pertaining to the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) scam.

Two top Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leaders – ex-premier Gilani and former commerce minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim – and others, including bureaucrats and private persons, are facing charges of causing multi-billion-rupee loss to the national exchequer at the TDAP through fraudulent trade subsidies and fictitious claims during their tenure.

The Federal Anti-Corruption Court-I approved bail plea of Gilani against a surety bond of Rs100,000 in each case as he appeared before the court escorted by his counsel Farooq H Naek and a number of his party workers.

Naek, who himself is a former lawmaker affiliated with the PPP, submitted before the anti-corruption judge, Mohammad Azeem, that his client was implicated in the cases with mala fide intentions tantamount to political vendetta.

Naek pleaded to the judge to grant Gilani bail in the cases as he was attending the trial proceedings and showing respect to the judicial system.

The judge after hearing the arguments granted interim bail until the next hearing of the cases on October 12.

Emerging out of the court, Gilani told the media that it was their [his and his party comrades’] moral victory that they were not escaping the courts.

“PPP will continue to strive for the preservation of its ideology,” he said, referring to the ‘struggle and sacrifices’ of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his daughter Benazir Bhutto.

Subtly hitting at the ruing PML-N, the former premier said that they should be told how many more cases are yet to be registered against them. There are around 70 inquiries against the PPP duo pending before the court, of which 24 have formally entered the course of trial while the rest are yet to be charge-sheeted.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 8^th, 2015.