In the Park Lane reference, 10 accused including Asif Ali Zardari were indicted

 

An Islamabad accountability court has indicted 10 accused, including the former president of Pakistan and co-chairman of the Pakistan People's Party Asif Ali Zardari, in the Park Lane Company reference, but all the accused have pleaded not guilty. In a reference filed by NAB, Asif Ali Zardari has been nominated as the director of Park Lane Company.  Accused Asif Ali Zardari did not appear in court and was indicted through a video link from his residence in Karachi.  This is the first case in which a key accused has been indicted through a video link for not appearing in court. According to the former president's lawyers, his client is ill and he cannot appear in court. During the trial on Monday, the former president told the accountability court judge that he knew how the accused was being charged because he had been facing such cases for the past 30 years. He said his lawyers were busy in the Supreme Court. Addressing the accused, the judge of the accountability court said, "We will read out the charges to you. You will respond and said that there is no need for a lawyer to hear the charge sheet." Addressing the accountability court judge, Asif Zardari said, "My Lord, write in your order that my lawyer is not available." After that, the judge of the accountability court addressed the accused and said, "Mr. Asif Ali Zardari, I am giving you the charge sheet." Asif Zardari said that civil cases were also pending against his partners on which the judge of the accountability court asked the accused to hear the entire case. Indicting the reference filed by the NAB, the judge of the accountability court said to the former president, "You have embezzled the loan of the National Bank by setting up a fake front company." In addition, the accused, as president, took a loan by putting pressure on the Pakistan National Bank.  Zardari, meanwhile, denied the allegations and denied the allegations. Zardari and other accused were present before the accused were indicted. Prior to the indictment, the lawyers of the accused requested the court to first meet their clients and then start the indictment process. However, the court rejected the plea. The accountability court judge remarked that after the indictment, all the accused would be called to their lawyers. The co-accused Anwar Majeed, Sher Ali, Farooq Abdullah, and Mohammad Saleem Faisal were also indicted through a video link while the accused Mohammad Hanif in Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi has been indicted and all The accused have pleaded not guilty.

It should be noted that in this case, the Islamabad High Court has released former President Asif Ali Zardari on bail. The case resonated in December 2018 when PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari were summoned by the Rawalpindi NAB on charges of buying valuable land cheaply in the Sangjani area on the outskirts of Islamabad. The NAB alleges that he bought 2,460 kanals of land in 2009 through his private company called Park Lane Estate, valued at more than Rs 2 billion, for just Rs 62 million. The Park Lane Estate Company is jointly owned by Asif Zardari, Bilawal Bhutto, and others and according to the records of the Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), the company has 120,000 shares, of which Bilawal Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari. Owns 30,000 shares.  This case is not new. Even before this, in 1997, the then Accountability Bureau had filed a case against Asif Ali Zardari on the charge of buying 2460 kanals of valuable land in Sangjani area on the outskirts of Islamabad at cheap rates. However, due to insufficient evidence and lack of evidence, the case was closed. Saif-ur-Rehman was the head of the Accountability Bureau at the time.