KARACHI, Jan 27: The District and Sessions Judge, East, Nisar Mohammed Shaikh, on Saturday condoned the absence of Asif Ali Zardari during the hearing of the Justice Nizam case on the defence counsel’s application.

The judge fixed March 3, 2007 for the next hearing after defence counsel Shahadat Awan told the court that his client was in the United States for medical treatment and his doctors had advised him not to travel abroad for at six months.

Mr Awan moved a written application on behalf of Mr Zardari. He also placed on court record a medical certificate issued to Mr Zardari by Samin K. Sharma of Cath Lab and Intervention Zena, and Professor Michael A. Weiner of Cardiovascular Institute, New York. The defence lawyer submitted that Mr Zardari had a history of coronary artery disease and intracoronary stents.

Mr Awan said his client was presently undergoing cardiac rehabilitation. “He underwent stress echo on October 2 for the evaluation of ongoing chest pain which contractile ventricle in anterior and inferior segments”, he said. He submitted that Mr Zardari also needed to undergo surgery for spine and cataract. “In view of the symptoms, he was strongly advised by his doctors to stay in the USA and not to travel abroad for six months. He will undergo spine and cataract surgeries in February 2007”.

Justice Nizam Ahmed and his son Nadim Ahmed, a lawyer, were shot dead in an attack on June 10, 1996, near their house in PECHS. The complainant, Group Captain (Retd) Sikandar, brother-in-law of Justice Nizam Ahmed, lodged an FIR of the incident at Ferozabad police station. Asif Zardari, Akhtar Javed Pirzada, Bilal Shaikh and Babar Sindhu are the defendants in the double murder case.

BAIL REJECTED: The bail application of a man accused of murder was rejected by Judicial Magistrate South I.