KARACHI, July 26: An additional district and sessions judge put off on Saturday the hearing of Sajjad Hussain Shah murder case against Asif Ali Zardari.

Judge Abrar Memon, who is holding the proceedings inside the Central Prison, fixed Aug 5 for the next hearing after the special public prosecutor (SPP), Ghazanfer Siddiqui, pointed out that the court, which was assigned the trial, was lying vacant following the transfer of presiding judge.

The SPP informed the judge that being the link judge of the vacant court, he (judge) could not proceed with the indictment of the accused.

The judge also ordered the jail authorities to not to shift the accused from Karachi till the next date of hearing.

The ailing husband of the former prime minister has been lodged at the Clifton Campus of the Ziauddin Memorial Hospital for treatment.

Shahadat Awan, defence counsel for the accused, submitted to the court that case had been pending for the last two years and that the prosecution had adopted delaying tactics while proceeding with the case.

When asked by the court, the defence counsel informed the court that the co-accused was convicted by a Punjab court in a murder case. He said the accused, Chachar, whose appeal against his conviction was pending disposal in the high court, was brought to Karachi on September 29, 2001, though he was not wanted by Karachi police in any case.

Mr Awan stated that the police effected the arrest of Chachar in the Sajjad Hussain murder case on October 13, 2001.

Former Pakistan Steel Mill chief Sajjad Hussain was shot dead on September 11, 1998, in Defence, while he was on his way to home. The police had initially registered a case against unidentified assailants.

Meanwhile, Shahdat Awan moved an application before the court seeking permission for the relatives of Mr Zardari to visit him at hospital. The judge granted the application and ordered that the relatives of the accused might visit him till the next date of hearing.

Agha Siraj Durrani, Sadiq Umrani, Abdullah Murad, Rashid Rabbani, Muzaffar Shujra and Bilal Shaikh also visited Mr Zardari at the Central Prison.

Later, talking to the reporters in the prison, Mr Zardari condemned the Sialkot incident, which claimed the lives of three judges. “This incident seems to be a part of some conspiracy”, he said recalling the notorious Sukkur jail break.