ISLAMABAD, Oct 23: An accountability court on Tuesday issued notice to Prosecutor General Raja Bashir for November 6 to submit his reply on an application moved by jailed PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari for his acquittal from the ARY Gold reference.

The application was submitted on Tuesday by Babar Awan advocate on behalf of Mr Zardari under section 265-K of the criminal procedure code (CrPC), contending that the prosecution had failed to made out criminal offence against his client.

The applicant contented that no legal basis existed to proceed with the trial against him as the policy to regulate the import of gold and silver by means of licence was approved by the economic coordination committee (ECC) of the cabinet.

Moreover the same policy still remains in force, he stated.

The prosecution has also no cause of grievance against any member who participated in the ECC meeting and approved the policy, the application states.

Citing provisions from the Constitution, the counsel emphasized that the cabinet was collectively accountable to the National Assembly. And that the accountability court lacked jurisdiction to scrutinize the cabinet decision.

Mr Zardari in his application stated that none of the witnesses in their statements had said a word about his involvement in the corruption or corrupt practices as envisaged under section 9 of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) ordinance.

Moreover there was no evidence that the applicant ever attempted or received illegal gratification for the issuance of the import licence.

The applicant also stated that there was no likelihood or probability that he might be convicted of any offence on the basis of the present record. Even otherwise his prosecution was conceived out of political victimization and his involvement in the case smacks mala fide, he said.

Mr Zardari is facing the charges for allegedly awarding monopolistic contract to ARY Gold Traders for the import of gold and silver. Under the reference the Customs department had claimed that due to the contract and exempting duties a total loss of Rs1.82 billion was caused to the government kitty during the period March 1995 to September 1997.