KARACHI: A banking court on Tuesday extended till Oct 16 the interim bail granted earlier to former president and Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur in a money laundering case.

Both Mr Zardari and Ms Talpur along with held suspects former Pakistan Stock Exchange chairman Hussain Lawai, banker Taha Raza, businessman Anvar Majeed and his son Abdul Ghani appeared before Judge Tariq Mehmood Khoso, who was hearing a case pertaining to money laundering of Rs4.14 billion through fake bank accounts in the Summit Bank, Sindh Bank and United Bank Limited.

The interim bail of 11 suspects, including Zain Malik, the son-in-law of real estate tycoon Malik Riaz, and three sons of Anvar Majeed, was also extended till Oct 16.

The application of former president Zardari and Ms Talpur regarding confirmation of his interim bail could not be taken up on Tuesday.

The court also re-issued the non-bailable warrants for arrest of five absconding suspects, including UAE national Nasser Abdulla Hussain Lootah, and directed the investigating officer to arrest and produce them on the next date of hearing.

Also on Tuesday, the banking court asked the counsel for the M/s Omni Group to furnish a copy of the apex court’s order restraining the trial court from issuing any stay orders or any interim injunctions on application moved by the accused in the case without taking it into confidence first.

The Omni Group had filed an application seeking unfreezing of the bank accounts of its 19 companies, including Sujawal Agro Farms, PakEthanol, Tando Allahyar Sugar Mills, Omni Polymer Packages, Omni Private Ltd, Chamber Sugar Mills, Ansari Sugar Mills and Agro Farms Thatta.

The court fixed the matter pertaining to unfreezing of bank accounts for Sept 27.

Counsel for the Omni Group Barrister Jamshed Malik also moved a second application seeking a direction for the IO to submit the final investigation report in the case at the earliest.

However, IO Muhammad Ali Abro argued that the matter was also sub judice in the Supreme Court and sought more time to file the final report until the apex court’s decision.

Meanwhile, two doctors from the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) — Dr Naveed­ullah and Dr Nosheen Iqbal — appeared in court and submitted the medical report of the two held suspects.

The doctors stated that the suspects could not be produced before the trial court on the last date of hearing due to their precarious health conditions. They also produced medial reports of Mr Majeed and his son.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2018