Rawalpindi - The Accountability Court (AC) on Wednesday postponed the proceeding till May 21 in an assets concealing reference against former president Asif Ali Zardari as he once again failed to appear before the court.
Farooq H.Naik, lawyer of Asif Zardari, filed a plea in the court, stating that his client could not attend the hearing as he was outside the country. However, sources revealed that former president Asif Ali Zardari did not face the court owing to poor security arrangements.
The former president was supposed to appear before the AC in assets concealing reference. AC Judge Khalid Mehmood Ranjha granted exemption to former president on the plea filed by his lawyer, stating that his client could not attend the hearing as he was outside the country.
Therefore, he prayed that the court may grant exemption to him from physical appearance. The court accepted the plea and granted exemption to former president but ordered the lawyer to make sure the presence of accused on the next date of hearing May 21, 2015. Earlier, Asif Zardari avoided facing court’s hearing on May 5 on account of his illness. After court proceeding, Farooq H.Naik told media that his plea for granting exemption to his client was accepted by the court. However, he made it clear that his client would only face the court on May 21 if security situation was found satisfactory. “Who will be responsible if something happen wrong to Zardari,” he said, adding that they wanted to dispose of this case. “Even this is the wish of Asif Ali Zardari that this 17-year-old case should now be closed,” he maintained.
Responding to a query, Farooq replied that security was not satisfactory in Rawalpindi as PPP former chairperson Benazir Bhutto lost her life due to poor security arrangements. He also sought security cover for the former president from the Punjab government.