ISLAMABAD: Former president and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday filed review petition in the Supreme Court seeking early hearing of fake accounts case.
The petition was submitted by Advocate Latif Khosa and Shehbaz Khosa, stating that the accused in the case was considered as innocent till the allegations were proven, hence the petitioner could be deprived of basic rights.
Zardari’s counsels pleaded the top court to fix hearing of February 12 in the review plea.
Earlier on Friday, the chairman Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto also filed a review petition in Supreme Court seeking removal of his name from a report by a joint investigation team probing fake bank accounts case.
Bilawal Bhutto stated in his petition that the Supreme Court of Pakistan to review its written order which, in contrast to its verbal order earlier, does not mention the removal of his name from the JIT report.
The Supreme Court, on January 17, had finally released its detailed order pertaining to the removal of the names of PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto as well as Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah from the Exit Control List (ECL). The apex court, however, had referred the report and material collected by the JIT in the Rs35 billion fake accounts case to the National Accountability Bureau.
The court, in its verbal order, gave directions for removal of his name from the JIT report as well, but its written order did not mention the matter, Bilawal has said in the petition.
The petition states that the JIT never summoned Bilawal and listed its observations in the report without ever hearing what he had to say about the case. The court’s written order cannot be different from its verbal order, the petition adds.
On the same day, the Sindh Government filed the review petition in Supreme Court, challenging SC January 7 decision in the money laundering and fake bank accounts case.
The petitioner approached the court through Advocate General Sindh, Salman Talibuddin, and took the stance that the paragraph of 29, 35 and 37 (vi) of the judgment needed to be modified.
The Sindh government requested the court to transfer the case from Islamabad/Rawalpindi to Karachi National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as issues and allegations were connected with this city.
It further pleaded that, if any inquiry or investigation in the case would be conducted in the capital, then it might create specific administrative and logistical issues which can seriously hamper the course of the inquiry.
