An accountability court on Wednesday reserved a decision over a petition of former president Asif Ali Zardari in the Park Lane reference. A petition filed by former president Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday stated that the case is not in the jurisdiction of the accountability court after the NAB law amendment in 2022. The court should either send the reference back to NAB or acquit him, the petitioner told the court. Zardari’s counsel Farooq H. Naik appeared before the court, which reserved its decision after arguments of the two sides. The Islamabad High Court has ruled recently in Adam Amin Chaudhry’s case that a reference could not be taken back, the cases only to be transferred to other relevant courts, the judge remarked. “The high court’s decision not relevant to this case, it is only applicable to a case of amnesty scheme and tax,” Zardari’s lawyer argued.

NAB Prosecutor Usman Masood opposed the acquittal plea and said that 1.5 billion amount was borrowed in this case, which later increased to an amount of 2.8 billions. The prosecutor pleaded the court to decide jurisdiction in the case. Park Lane case Former president and PPP co-chairman 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. The Park Lane case being investigated under different sections of the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999, and the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010, over Zardari’s alleged involvement in a loan and its misappropriation by Parthenon Private Limited. A loan worth Rs 1.5 billion was taken from a bank and transferred to the company’s account in a private bank.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP