IHC adjourns hearing into Asif Zardari's plea in Park Lane reference

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday adjourned former president Asif Ali Zardari’s plea seeking to nullify the August 7 judgment of the accountability court in Park Lane properties reference.

The plea was taken up by a two-member bench of the IHC comprising Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Ghulam Azam Qambrani.

As soon as the hearing began, the lawyer of the former president said that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) courts cannot investigate the mega-money laundering case.

According to an amendment made in section 27 of the Financial Action Recovery Act, the banking court can hear investigate the money laundering case, not the NAB courts, he added.

Zardari’s lawyer further said in his argument before the court that the governor State Bank of Pakistan has not filed a reference against his client, neither sent any notice.

Justice Amir Farooq said that the court will see the legal aspects of the and adjourned the further hearing into the case until November 10.

Park Lane case
Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur and other accused face charges of corruption through fake bank accounts and embezzlement in the financial facility for Park Lane Private Limited and Parthenon (Pvt) Limited.

The Park Lane case is being investigated under different sections of the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999, and the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010, over Zardari’s alleged involvement in a loan and its misappropriation by Parthenon Private Limited.

A loan worth Rs 1.5 billion was taken from a bank and transferred to the company’s account in a private bank.