ISLAMABAD: Former president and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday moved an application with a trial court for getting rid of the five corruption references pending against him in the accountability court.

On the application of Mr Zardari, special judge Mohammad Bashir of the accountability court Islamabad issued notices to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and sought its reply on February 3, the next date of proceedings.

The judge also exempted Mr Zardari from day-to-day appearance before the court after Farooq H. Naek and Amjad Iqbal Qureshi, the counsel for the former president, cited security concerns.

The five corruption references were filed against Mr Zardari 17 years back. They included Cotecna, Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS), ARY Gold, Ursus tractors and polo ground cases.

The accountability court in October last year had reopened the proceedings against Mr Zardari in compliance with the Supreme Court judgment passed in the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) case in December 2009.

In the judgment, the apex court had ordered the revival of the cases which had been closed after the promulgation of the NRO in 2007.

The Cotecna corruption reference was initially prepared by Saifur Rehman, the then chairman of Ehtesab Bureau, during the second government of Nawaz Sharif.

Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and her spouse Mr Zardari were the main accused in the reference while Nusrat Bhutto, former CBR chairman A.R. Siddiqui and six directors of the Swiss company, Cotecna, were the co-accused.

They were charged with taking as kickbacks six per cent of the total value of a $131 million pre-shipment contract awarded to the Swiss company.

The other cases included the allegation of receiving kickbacks from SGS PSI Company, grant of licence to ARY Gold causing a huge loss to the government, illegal gratification and undue pecuniary advantage in the form of commission in the purchase of Ursus tractors under the Awami Tractor Scheme in Switzerland, opening of a bank account in the name of an offshore company which was allegedly used to receive the kickbacks.

Besides, illegal construction of a polo ground in the prime minister house and money laundering in the SGS Swiss case were also under adjudication.

Arguing before the court on the plea for the acquittal of Mr Zardari, Farooq Naek said all the co-accused in the five references had already been acquitted as the prosecution had nothing against them.

He said the prosecution had to produce same record and witnesses before the court during the trial of Mr Zardari which the court had already declared insufficient for the conviction of the co-accused persons.

He said if the court decided to continue the trial, it would be a futile exercise and would waste the precious time of the court.