LAHORE, June 18: A local accountability will resume the trial of former Punjab chief minister Mian Manzoor Ahmad Khan Wattoo in the Baitul Maal reference from July 9. A NAB prosecutor stated that since Mr Wattoo had opted for trial instead of plea bargain, his petition for acquittal should not to be heard. “If the court found him innocent, he may be released,” he added.

The court said proceedings would resume from the cross-examination of Mr G M Sikandar, head of the chief minister’s secretariat in Mr Wattoo’s tenure and even now.

Co-accused Malik Haider Usman and S M Bashir in the same reference have already opted for plea bargain.

HASHMI: The same accountability court summoned the brother of PML-N acting president Makhdoom Javed Hashmi on June 26. He is a co-accused in the reference which charges the ARD leader with purchasing property in Islamabad and Multan with money earned beyond his known sources of income

BADAR: A local accountability court adjourned till July 1 the pronouncement of judgment in a reference against PPP’s secretary-general Jahangir Badar who is facing charges of making illegal money and making appointments in the oil and gas departments without meeting legal requirements.

The adjournment was ordered because a Supreme Court stay order against a Lahore High Court decision is holding ground.