ISLAMABAD: The acco­u­n­tability court of Islam­abad on Thursday adjourned proceedings against former president Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur in a fake accounts case without any progress since the copies of reference and other documents were not distributed among all accused persons.

Likewise, hearing in appeals filed by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has been adjourned till June 19 since the paper book of the trial proceeding has yet to be compiled.

In the fake accounts case, Mr Zardari and Ms Talpur along with other accused persons appeared before the court on Thursday.

Defence counsel Farooq H. Naek pointed out that copies of references had not been distributed among all accused persons so far.

Appeals of Nawaz, NAB to be heard on June 19

Accountability judge Mohammad Arshad Malik was supposed to fix a date for framing charges on the accused on Thursday. However, since some of the accused persons were still awaiting for copies of the references and other related record, the court adjourned the hearing till May 21.

Accountability judge Malik wondered how the court would proceed the matter when the prosecution agency was not providing relevant material to the accused persons.

It may be mentioned that it is the responsibility of the prosecution to distribute copies of reference among the accused persons before their indictment.

Advocate Naek argued that how could accused persons prepare their response if they were not apprised about the exact nature of allegations against them.

When the court asked the accused persons to mark their attendance on the register, Ms Talpur realised that she had forgotten to bring her computerised national identity card (CNIC).

When a reporter asked the ex-president where he intended to celebrate Eid, Mr Zardari replied it depended on what the judges decided.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2019