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KARACHI, May 9: Justice Bin Yamin Khan of the Sindh High Court adjourned till May 13 criminal revision applications moved on behalf of Pakistan People’s Party leader Asif Ali Zardari, former and prospective high commissioner to the United Kingdom Wajid Shamsul Hasan and former House Building Finance Corporation chief Hussain Haqqani, who is being tipped as the new ambassador to the United States.
Mr Zardari and Mr Shamsul Hasan are allegedly involved in ‘the container case’ instituted by the Federal Investigation Agency in 1997. The agency accused Mr Zardari of sending eight wooden boxes of artifacts by PIA to London without paying any customs duty and freight charges. According to it, the consignment was received in the British capital by an agent authorized by the Pakistan High Commission, then headed by Mr Shamsul Hasan.
Appearing for the applicants, Advocates Abu Bakar Zardari and Mian Khan Mohammad submitted that the boxes contained Mr Zardari’s personal effects. All the dues were paid and no wrongdoing was involved and the case was politically motivated. Customs collector Nazeer Shah had already been acquitted by the trial anti-corruption court under Section 249-A of the criminal procedure code. Identical applications moved by their clients were, however, dismissed in contravention of the rule of consistency and they had no option but to move the high court for revision of the dismissal orders.
Mr Haqqani is alleged to have advanced Rs10 million to a banking institution of doubtful credentials and has challenged dismissal his application for acquittal by the anti-corruption court. His counsel, Advocate Adnan Karim, submitted that the entire amount was repaid by the debtor bank and wrongful gain was made by the applicant or wrongful loss caused to the exchequer. The prosecution failed to make out any case and the trial was not likely to resulting conviction, the lawyer argued.
Usman Farooqui’s plea
Chief Justice Mohammad Afzal Soomro, meanwhile, reserved his order on the acquittal application of former Pakistan Steel chairman Usman Farooqui. He is accused by the FIA of purchasing material at exorbitant rates from a firm launched by him.
Advocate Raza Hashmi, the applicant’s counsel, argued submitted that the case was false and fabricated and was part of the political vendetta unleashed by the then accountability chief, PML (N) senator Saifur Rehman Khan. The case was at best one of a departmental inquiry but no probe was made. The material was purchased at competitive rates. The charge had been belied by the investigation officer’s report itself, the counsel contended.
Deputy Attorney-General Rizwan Ahmed Siddiqui agreed that a departmental inquiry should have been held and the CJ adjourned the case for order.
Bail for CBR official
A division consisting of Justices Yasmin Abbasy and Arshad Noor Khan, meanwhile, granted bail to Abrar Ahmed, a retired officer of the Central Board of Revenue’s taxation department, in a reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau in the sum of Rs1 million. He was alleged to have accumulated assets worth about Rs150 million from 1985 to 2001. The assets could not be accounted for from known sources of his income. He also had bank deposits in his and his wife’s name which were grossly disproportionate to his income.
Advocates Rasheed A. Razvi and Haq Nawaz Talpur submitted on behalf of the petitioner that the case was based on conjectures and surmises and little evidence had been recorded since 2006 when it was filed. The petitioner could not be jailed for such a long period before conviction and sentence. There was no reason to believe that he would abscond and would not contest the reference, the counsel submitted.
