Daily Times

Former president Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur appeared before an accountability court in Islamabad on Tuesday for a hearing related to the fake accounts case.

In the hearing, accountability court judge Justice Mohammad Arshad Malik acquired surety bonds of Rs1 million for property tycoon Malik Riaz’s son-in-law Zain Malik and Shahzad, another accused in the case.

During the hearing today, the head of the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) prosecution, Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi, informed the court that the applications of two accused who requested to become approvers in the case had been submitted to the bureau’s chairman and they were awaiting a decision in this regard.

On April 8, the two — Kiran Aman and Noreen Sultan — had expressed their willingness to become approvers against Zardari and Talpur.

Zardari and Talpur had also filed an application to submit surety bonds but, as their pre-arrest bail petitions are already pending before the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

An investigation officer informed the court that he had managed to shift all records — included in a joint investigation team (JIT) report in the fake accounts case and the banking court’s previous proceedings in the said case — from Karachi to Islamabad yesterday and therefore he required time to prepare the paper books for the accused.

Traditionally, after the paper books are distributed, a court indicts the accused in the next hearing.

The court today also directed three others to submit an application to the court regarding their surety bonds.

Additionally, the court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for an absconding accused in the case, Adnan Javed, and sought the travel history for two of the accused — Azam Wazir and Nasir Lootha — who have fled abroad.

An investigative officer informed the court that one of the accused, Iqbal Arain, had died. The judge directed him to produce Arain’s death certificate.

The next hearing of the case is scheduled for April 29.