February 03, 2008	Sunday	Muharram 24, 1429

KARACHI, Feb 2: The Additional District and Sessions Judge, Central, Tasneem Sultana, on Saturday rejected the bail application of Shaikh Abdul Majeed, father of the groom, Shaikh Mohammad Azeem, who was allegedly killed along with his bride, Beenish, in the night following their wedding.

The couple was found dead in their North Nazimabad apartment, in the limits of Taimuria police, on Aug 11 last year.

The groom’s father is accused of killing the couple. Through his counsel, he had moved a bail application which was considered by the court, which announced its order on Saturday.

On Oct 27, the investigation officer of the case, Khalid Khan, had submitted an interim charge-sheet to the judicial magistrate-12, Central, Abdul Zahoor Chandio, in which Shaikh Abdul Majeed was nominated as the main accused in the case.

Asif’s absence condoned

The Additional District and Sessions Judge, Central, Gulshan Ara Chandio, on Saturday condoned the absence of PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari from the hearing of the justice Nizam murder case on the request of his counsel.

The court fixed March 15 for the next hearing after the defence counsel, Shahadat Awan, submitted an application praying that his client’s absence from the hearing be condoned as he was busy responding to condolences for his spouse, Benazir Bhutto, the former primer minister.

The court accepted the application and directed that the accused should appear in the court on the next date of hearing.

Asif Ali Zardari, along with Akhtar Javed Pirzada, Bilal Shaikh and Babar Sindhu, are facing charges of complicity in the murder of justice Nizam Ahmed of the Sindh High Court and his son Nadeem Ahmed, a lawyer. The judge and his son were shot dead June 10, 1996 in front of their PECHS residence.

Group Captain (retd) Sikandar, brother-in-law of Justice Nizam Ahmed, had lodged an FIR of the incident at the Ferozabad police station.