Park Lane reference: Zardari’s indictment deferred

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Monday deferred the indictment of former president Asif Ali Zardari in Park Lane reference, as his counsel Advocate Farooq H Naek filed plea against the proceedings.

During hearing Zardari’s lawyer filed a petition in accountability court to stop the indictment against former president, as proceedings against his client were not legally justified so the court should stop the indictment.

Farooq H Naek requested the court to issue a notice to NAB on the new petition and adjourned the proceedings till next Tuesday as he has to do some more research on the case. Naek new plea seeking nullification of Park Lane reference filed National Accountability Bureau (NAB) states that the case is of deliberate loan fraud and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) should take action.

To this NAB prosecutor argued that case against former president Asif Zardari is of misuse of power and fraud. The Accountability Court issued notice to NAB on the plea filed by Asif Ali Zardari, to which the NAB prosecutor said that they have received the notice and they are ready to give reply and urged court to indict all the accused including Asif Zardari.

However, Asif Zardari’s lawyer said that he needs more time to prepare his arguments. Accountability court judge asked Naek to appear before the court on July 9.

To which, Zardari’s lawyer said that he has to represent another client in a different case in the Supreme Court Karachi Registry on July 9. The judge postponed the indictment against former president Asif Zardari and set a hearing for the new petition on July 14.

According to NAB, Asif Ali Zardari was allegedly running a fake front company by the name of Parthenon as a shareholder in Park Lane properties. A loan worth Rs1.5 billion was taken from the bank and transferred to the company account in a private bank.

Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur and other accused face charges of corruption through fake bank accounts and embezzlement in the financial facility for Park Lane Private Limited and Parthenon (Pvt) Limited.

According to the anti-graft watchdog, Asif Ali Zardari was allegedly running a fake front company by the name of Parthenon as a shareholder in Park Lane properties. A loan worth Rs1.5 billion was taken from a bank and transferred to the company’s account in a private bank.