KARACHI - The Sindh High Court on Monday summoned Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Director General, Secretary Interior and others seeking explanations over declaring PPP leader Faryal Talpur absconder in money laundry case, until August 9.

A division bench headed by Justice Khadam Hussain Sheikh was hearing a petition filed by PPP leader Faryal Talpur seeking order to null and void an interim challan that submitted by FIA in a banking court declaring her absconder in money laundry case.

Counseling on behalf of the petitioner, Farooq H Nayek appeared before the bench and submitted his arguments by saying that the charge-sheet submitted by the FIA has violated the law, as it did not clearly mention the charges against her.

The counsel contended that the trail court had accepted the charge-sheet for further proceeding without examining it.  The counsel pleaded to issue order to null and void the charge-sheet and withdraw the allegations.

The court after hearing his initiate arguments, has issued notices to the respondents and directed them to submit their comments in written in the next hearing.

The petitioner submitted that the FIA is investigating 32 people in relation to money-laundering from fictitious accounts, under which Zardari’s close aide and then-Pakistan Stock Exchange Chairman Hussain Lawai was arrested earlier this month.

The charge sheet does not reveal that any money laundering has been done by the petitioner which attracts section 3 & 4 AMLA. Similarly no allegation of criminal misconduct has been leveled against the petitioner, the petitioner is not a public servant not it has been alleged in the FIR that she abetted in commission of any offense.

On July 21, the FIA prosecution submitted interim charge sheet in which both PPP leaders Zardari and Talpur’s were named as absconding accused. Zardari business partner Anwar Majeed and his son were also named in the list of absconders which contains the names of 20 individuals.

According to the prosecution, the accused were involved in facilitating the opening of 29 ‘fake’ accounts in the Summit Bank, Sindh Bank and United Bank Limited, billions of rupees were deposited into the said fake accounts and subsequently transferred to different accounts including that of PPP Chairperson Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur’s company, Zardari Group, which is shown to have received Rs15 million.

The biggest transfer made out of the alleged fake accounts was to an Arab national, Nasser Abdulla Hussain Lootah, who is the chairman of the Summit Bank’s board of directors.