KARACHI, April 15: An additional district and sessions judge, South, Farooq Ali Channa, ordered on Tuesday the home secretaries and prison chiefs of Sindh and Punjab to ensure the appearance of Asif Ali Zardari in the court on the next hearing of Sajjad Hussain murder case.
This was the 35th order by the court for the production of Mr Asif since October 2001 when the Gizri police submitted the final charge sheet against him and a co-accused in the case.
The judge directed the home secretary and the inspector-general of prisons Punjab to shift Mr Asif from Attock Jail to Karachi for the hearing of the case.
The interned husband of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and co-accused Mohammed Khan Chachar have been charged with the killing of Sajjad Hussain, a former chairman of the Pakistan Steel Mills. Dr Zulfiqar Mirza, Dr Nisar and Sohail Banga have been declared absconders in the case.
The judge also ordered the home and jail authorities of Sindh to ensure the production of Mr Asif, being represented by Shahadat Awan, in the court on April 26 when the judge would hear the case, which has been pending for more than 18 months.
The former PSM chief was shot dead on September 11, 1998 in Defence while he was on his way home. The police had initially registered the case against two unknown motorcyclists.
The five different courts, trying Mr Asif in six cases, have issued more than 280 orders for his production over the past two years. However, none of them has been complied with.
Mr Asif was arrested on November 5, 1996 at the Punjab Governor’s House following the dismissal of the Benazir government.
He was initially detained under the MPO. Later, he was arrested in the Murtaza Bhutto murder case in late November 1996, after the Sindh High Court set aside his detention under the MPO.
The trial of Murtaza Bhutto case has also come to a halt since the deposition of the 17th out of a total of 223 prosecution witnesses due to the non-production of the prime accused, Asif Zardari.
In May 1999 the police obtained his remand in the Justice Nizam murder case. During his remand, he was booked in two cases of attempt to commit suicide on May 17 and May 19.
As many as 122 orders for the production of Mr Asif in the Justice Nizam case were issued by the district and sessions judge, Central, Zafar Ahmed Sherwani.
Besides, the Judicial Magistrate, South, Syeda Perveen Shah, issued more than 105 orders for the production of Asif Zardari, who at present is in the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, under the custody of the Attock Jail.
According to defence counsel Shahadat Awan, his client was last produced in the court of the JM on February 1, 2001 and the hearing was put off without any proceedings.
SENTENCED: An additional district and sessions judge, Ghulam Qadir Leghari, sentenced a bandit, Kamran, to four years’ rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs10,000.
He would have to undergo an additional two months’ RI if he failed to pay the fine.
He was booked, in 1996, by the Liaquatabad police for robbing a man.
