ISLAMABAD, Nov 8: The government and PPP are reportedly “very close” to finalizing a deal under which Ms Benazir Bhutto will be able to come back to the country without any fear of going to jail and Asif Ali Zardari, imprisoned since 1996, will come out of jail, Dawn has learnt from reliable sources.
Negotiations are still going on to finalize the deal. After PPP team’s meeting with President Pervez Musharraf on Monday, PPP leaders sounded very “optimistic.”
According to an insider dealing with legal affairs of the party, it has been agreed that Ms Bhutto would not be arrested on her return.
She would file an application in the Accountability Court, Rawalpindi, demanding that her conviction on the charges of non-appearance in the court should be recalled.
The government, the sources said, had given an assurance that the application would be accepted and conviction order passed under section 31 of the NAB Ordinance recalled.
Ms Bhutto, facing four corruption cases, was convicted in April 1999 by an Ehtesab Bench headed by Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum on the charges of awarding pre-shipment contract to a Swiss firm for personal considerations.
The conviction was not only set aside but also the judge who had handed down the judgment, had to leave the judicial institution after being declared “biased” by the SC on the appeals of Ms Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari.
Mr Zardari, behind the bar since 1996, is carrying no conviction so far. His conviction in pre-shipment case in 1999, was set aside by the Supreme Court and matter was remanded to the competent court.
The accountability court, however, has taken up the case but it is still at “notice stage”.
There are a total of 12 cases against Mr Zardari. Six pertain to his alleged corruption and six others are criminal cases, including four murder cases.
He has been granted bail by courts in 10 cases so far and the bail application in the 11th case will be taken up on Nov 23.
The chances of his getting bail from the Lahore High Court, Rawalpindi bench, in the 11th case, (Polo ground reference), are also bright.
The other case in which Mr Zardari has not been granted bail is about Narcotics, which is pending in the sessions court, Lahore. The bail application is pending for one year in the case and if the deal is struck Mr Zardari would be given bail in that case also.
In murder cases, Mr Zardari was granted bail in Justice Nizam, Murtaza Bhutto and secretary Alam Baloch’s cases. He is also facing a case of suicide.
Soon after the PPP leaders’ meeting with President Pervez Musharraf, Hakim Ali Zardari, father of Asif Ali Zardari, was shifted to his house.
The other beneficiaries of the deal would be Naveed Qamar, former chairman of Privatisation Commission, and Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, former Speaker of the National Assembly.
Mr Qamar is behind the bar for the last two years, but his case is still nowhere and he would be out of the jail on bail. Similarly, Mr Yousaf Raza Gillani, who held a very important constitutional post, is being prosecuted for misuse of official telephone facility.