ISLAMABAD, Jan 25: Senator Farooq H Naek, the legal counsel for Pakistan People’s Party Chairperson Benazir Bhutto and her spouse, Asif Ali Zardari, has asked the government to inform him if a request had been made to the Interpol for issuance of red warrants against his clients.

In a letter addressed to the interior secretary, Syed Kamal Shah, Mr Naek said if such a request had been made to the Interpol, the basis and grounds of making the request should also be disclosed and the same may kindly be withdrawn forthwith and he must be informed about it.

Mr Naek said that Ms Bhutto had not been convicted by any court adding that an appeal against the orders of conviction for non-appearance was pending with the LHC, Rawalpindi Bench.

The Supreme Court, he said, had held that conviction in absentia was violative of the Constitution rendering provision of Section 31A of NAB Ordinance unlawful, unconstitutional and null and void.

Moreover, Ms Bhutto had left the country in March 1999 with the permission of the court and her personal appearance in the pending references at the time of her departure from Pakistan was exempted by the courts, he added.

As far as Asif Ali Zardari was concerned, Mr Naek said, he was released from prison in November 2004 on the orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan after eight years without conviction. However, during his confinement, he was acquitted in two corruption cases by the high courts concerned (KESC and Steel Mills Case).