ISLAMABAD: An accountability court of Islamabad on Monday rejected acquittal petitions of former President Asif Ali Zarfari in SGS and Cotenca references.

Mr Zardari had filed the application under section 265-K of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) for acquittal in the two corruption references.

Accountability Judge Mohammad Bashir directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to produce prosecution witnesses on January 8.

Earlier, on December 12 the same court had acquitted Mr Zardari in Ursus tractors and import of gold ARY references. On May 28 the AC Islamabad had also acquitted Zardari from the polo ground corruption reference.

Mr Zardari through his counsel Farooq H Naek had filed applications in the five cases after the Accountability Court last year re-opened these references.

The SGS and Cotecna references are pertaining to the award of pre-shipment inspection contracts with allegations that Mr Zardari had received six per cent of the total amount as kickbacks.

On Monday advocate Naek argued before the court that these cases were formed on political ground and the evidence was not sufficient to convict his client.

NAB prosecutor Ch Riaz on the other hand opposed the acceptance of applications and claimed that the prosecution had sufficient evidence on record to prove the case against Mr Zardari.

Published in Dawn, December 23rd, 2014