KARACHI: Absence of Asif condoned in Nizam murder case
By A Reporter
KARACHI, Sept 1: The district and sessions judge, Central, Nisar Mohammad Shaikh, on Saturday condoned the absence of Asif Ali Zardari during the hearing of the justice Nizam murder case on the defence counsel’s application.
The court fixed Oct 10 for the next hearing after defence counsel Shahadat Awan informed the court that his client was in the United States for medical treatment and his doctors had advised him not to travel long distances for at least six months.
Mr Awan submitted an application to the court on behalf of Asif Ali Zardari. He also provided a medical certificate to the court, issued to Mr Zardari by Samin K. Sharma, MD, and Michael A. Wiener in New York.
He pleaded that Mr Zardari was suffering from heart disease and coronary artery blockages. He said his client was undergoing cardiac rehabilitation, adding that he also underwent stress echo on Oct 2, 2006 to evaluate his chest pain which still revealed non-contractile ventricle in anterior and inferior segments.
The counsel submitted that Mr Zardari also needed to undergo surgery for spine and cataract, saying that in view of the symptoms his doctors had advised him to stay in the United States and not to travel out for six months. He added that his client also needed additional medical checkups for other ailments and had already undergone an eye surgery while others were being planned.
According to the prosecution, Asif Ali Zardari, Akhtar Javed Pirzada, Bilal Shaikh and Babar Sindhu are facing charges of the double murder. Justice Nizam Ahmed of the Sindh High Court and his son Nadeem Ahmed, a lawyer, were shot dead in an attack on June 10, 1996 in front of their PECHS residence.
The complainant, Group Captain (retd) Sikandar, brother-in-law of Justice Nizam Ahmed, had lodged an FIR of the incident at the Ferozabad police station.
The killings were attributed to a dispute over a prized plot near Awami Markaz as Justice Nizam Ahmed had opposed its commercialisation and illegal allotment. An accused, Bilal Shaikh, appeared in the court while Babar Sindhu had been exempted from personal appearance in the court and Javed Pirzada was declared as an absconder in the case.
Mir Murtaza case
The additional district and sessions judge-1, East, Naseem Mansoor, on Saturday adjourned the hearing of Mir Murtaza Bhutto murder case for Sept 9.
Defence counsel Abuzar Zardari and Shahadat Awan appeared on behalf of their clients in the case and submitted an application for condoning the absence of the the accused on health grounds.
