RAWALPINDI, Oct 25: An accountability court on Thursday adjourned till October 31 hearing in two corruption references against Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari after the National Accountability Bureau submitted the copy of the Supreme Court verdict saying no benefit can be drawn until the petitions challenging the National Reconciliation Ordinance are decided.

Accountability Court No 2 Judge Chaudhry Mohammad Younas was hearing acquittal petitions filed in the ARY Gold and SGS cases. NAB Prosecutor General Dr Danishwar Malik submitted a copy of the Oct 12 interim order of the SC about the NRO.

Arshad Tabraiz, an associate of Farooq H. Naek, the counsel for the Pakistan People’s Party, said the SC order did not stay legal proceedings under the NRO, rather it stated that any benefit drawn under the ordinance would be reversed if the apex court gave verdict against the ordinance.

The judge said that arguments on the order would be heard on the next date.

In the ARY Gold case, the accused had obtained stay order from the Lahore High Court against any proceedings in the case. In the SGS case, Ms Bhutto and Mr Zardari were awarded three years imprisonment in absentia.

The judge asked Mohammad Ashraf, the lawyer for the owner of ARY Gold, and others to get the stay order vacated from the high court.

The lawyer informed the accountability court that the high court had observed that after the promulgation of NRO the stay stood withdrawn.

NAB Deputy Prosecutor General Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta informed the court that under the NRO only holders of the public office could get the benefit of general amnesty. The judge asked the defence lawyer to first get the stay order vacated.