November 15, 2002	Friday	Ramazan 9, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, Nov 14: The Lahore High Court Rawalpindi Bench on Thursday dismissed the plea of Asif Ali Zardari seeking suspension of his punishment during the pendency of his appeal in Steel Mills reference and announced that it would hear the appeal in the coming January.

Asif Zardari, who is behind the bars since Nov 6, 1996 had stated before the court that he had undergone more sentence what he had been awarded in Steel Mills case. It was further contended that since he had filed his appeal, his sentence should be suspended.

The division bench comprising Justice Maulvi Anwarul Haq, and Justice Abdul Shakoor Paracha, after hearing counsels for Mr Zardari, Raja Mohammad Anwar, and Farooq H. Naek, and NAB counsels, Naveed Rasool, Baseer Qureshi and Ajam Naz, decided to dismiss the petition but announced that it would hear the appeal in January next year.

The NAB counsels were of the view that though Mr Zardari was convicted in Steel Mills Reference, he had not been formally arrested and his sentence had not commenced from the day his trial commenced.

The counsels for Mr Zardari, however, were of the view that the court took cognizance of the case on June 22, 1998, the sentence awarded to him would start from that day. They argued that summoning of the accused and asking him to submit bail bond, meant that he had been arrested.

The NAB counsels also opposed the plea for exemptions under jail manual under Article 382 of Cr PC to Mr Zardari, said the exemption was available to those who were formally arrested and lodged in jail. Mr Zardari, in this case, has not been arrested.

The counsels for the petitioner contended though their client had been granted bail in Steel Mills Reference, he had not submitted bail bond, meaning that he remained in the custody.

Justice Abdul Shakoor Paracha observed that since the petitioner had been appearing before the court in custody, there was no question of being arrested.

Justice Maulvi Anwarul Haq, was of the view that the court would have to hold a trial to determine whether the appearance meant custody.

The court announced at this stage that the appeal of Mr Zardari would be heard and decided in the third week of January.

Under section 426 of the Criminal Procedure Code an application can be made for the suspension of the sentence during the pendency of an appeal.

Asif Ali Zardari is carrying only one conviction, in which he was awarded seven years imprisonment, along with Rs40 million fine.

His conviction in pre-shipment case in 1999, was set aside by the Supreme Court and matter was remanded to the competent court. The accountability court, however, has taken up the case but it is still at “notice stage”.

There are total 14 cases against Asif Zardari. Eight pertaining to his alleged corruption and six are criminal cases including four murder cases.

He has been granted bail by courts in 13 cases so far and the bail application and the fourteenth case, commonly known as BMW case, was filed only when he had obtained bails in all cases and the government was left with no option except to release him. In BMW case five witness have recorded their evidence.

In the Narcotics case pending in Session Court Lahore, he was also granted bail about a year ago. In murder cases, Mr Zardari was granted bail in Justice Nizam, Murtaza Bhutto and secretary Alam Baloch case. He is also facing a case of suicide.