ISLAMABAD, June 30: The Supreme Court on Wednesday set a three- week deadline for the Rawalpindi Bench of the Lahore High Court to decide an appeal of jailed PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari in the Pakistan Steel Mills corruption reference.

A three-member SC bench comprising Chief Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui, Justice Javed Iqbal and Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar also observed to adjudicate the matter on the basis of present record if the high court failed to meet the deadline and ruled that the concerned bench that had earlier heard the appeal should decide the matter within three weeks.

Mr Zardari's legal counsel comprising Raja Mohammad Anwer, Dr Babar Awan and Shafqat Abbasi had prayed that a division bench of LHC had reserved judgment after concluding the hearing but one of the judges, Justice Maulvi Anwarul Haq, of the said bench was transferred from Rawalpindi to Multan just to delay adjudicating the case. The bench which has now been constituted wanted to hear the entire case from the beginning, they said.

During the hearing the chief justice observed that there were 41 judges in the high court but it was amazing that not a single judge was available to write down the judgment in this case.

The Supreme Court had earlier granted 15 days to the high court to decide the appeal of Mr Zardari against his conviction in the Pakistan Steel mills corruption reference.

A Rawalpindi Accountability Court in 2002 had sentenced Asif Zardari for seven years with a fine of Rs40m in the Pakistan Steel mills corruption case. SC bench on Wednesday expressed its displeasure when Jaffar Hashmi advocate, representing the National Accountability Bureau informed the court that the high court was about to conclude the reference against Mr Zardari and as such the present petition of Mr Zardari should be adjourned for another day.

The chief justice observed that NAB was deliberately delaying the case and that the instant case had been adjourned so many times earlier. At this Justice Javed Iqbal also observed that NAB which should dispose of the matter under NAB Ordinance within 30 days was taking so much time just to move the files while adjudication takes years.