Daily Times

In view of the constitutional immunity of the head of the state, an accountability court in Islamabad on Tuesday halted its proceedings against incumbent President Asif Ali Zardari in the Toshakhana vehicle reference. At the outset of the hearing, PPP’s lawyer Farooq H Naik – counsel of President Zardari – appeared before the accountability court and filed a plea seeking to halt the court’s proceedings against his client. “As per the law, Asif Zardari has presidential immunity. The case against Zardari cannot proceed as long as he remains in office,” argued the lawyer. Approving his request, accountability court judge Justice Javed Rana halted the proceedings against the president in the Toshakhana case. The development came a month after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), in a written reply submitted to the accountability court in the Toshakhana vehicle reference, requested to end the criminal proceedings against President Zardari, saying that he enjoys constitutional immunity. It is pertinent to mention here that the NAB last month exonerated Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif in the same vehicle reference. The anti-graft body, in its report, had requested an accountability court in Islamabad to acquit the former premier.