NAB decides to challenge Zardari’s acquittal

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has decided to challenge the acquittal of former president Asif Ali Zardari in illegal assets case.

According to sources, NAB will file a petition with Lahore High Court (LHC) against the decision, and is waiting for getting a copy of the verdict that was announced by the accountability court in Rawalpindi on August 26.

The NAB’s prosecution branch is working on drafting the appeal. Asif Ali Zardari was accused of holding assets in Pakistan as well as abroad through illegal means. PPP stalwart Farooq H Naek had represented Zardari and filed petition for bail in Judge Khalid Mehmood Ranjha’s court which was approved. It was ruled that there was no legal basis of corruption references filed by the NAB.

On Saturday, Justice Khalid Mehmood Ranjha of Accountability Court-I accepted Zardari’s plea for acquittal, observing that the NAB reference against him had no legal standing. After the verdict, Zardari’s lawyer Farooq Hamid Naek, while speaking newsmen explained that the reference against his client was filed in 1998 under sections of Accountability Act 1997.

Naek further said the reference against the former president was filed by former Accountability Bureau chairman Saif-ur-Rehman on Nawaz Sharif’s request and added that the accountability body failed to provide any evidence in the case. Naek added Zardari had been acquitted in eight corruption references as six cases were filed during Nawaz' tenure while two were filed during Pervez Musharraf’s tenure.