ISLAMABAD, Nov 27: An accountability court has allowed the jailed leader of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Asif Ali Zardari, to hire services of a religious teacher at his own expense to learn the Holy Quran with ‘Tafseer.’

The accountability court No II, while hearing the ARY Gold reference, directed Babar Awan, the counsel for Asif Ali Zardari, to submit complete particulars of the teacher.

The court allowed to hire the teacher on an application filed under Article 31 of the Constitution in which Asif Zardari had stated that he was an adult Muslim and to order his life in accordance with the fundamental principles and basic concepts of Islam, he needed a teacher who could facilitate him in understanding the Holy Quran and Sunnah.

Asif Zardari in his application stated that he had been under detention for the last five years due to “political victimization” and had been appearing before different courts in the ARY Gold case since April 1998. The application stated that to learn about the Islamic injunctions and to follow Sunnah was not only his birth right but the state under Article 31 of the Constitution was also dutybound to take steps to enable the citizens, individually and collectively, to shape their lives in accordance with the teachings of Islam.

The hearing of another application of Asif Zardari for acquittal in the ARY reference could not be held due to absence of the prosecutor general.

Babar Awan took strong exception, when the court was requested by the prosecution side to defer the hearing for a long period because of the day to day hearing in another corruption reference against Asif Zardari in the Attock accountability court.

The court, however, adjourned the hearing till December 5.

The case pertains to awarding of monopolistic contract to ARY Gold Traders for the import of gold and silver to Pakistan, which allegedly resulted in the loss of Rs1.82 billion to the national exchequer during March 1995 to September 1997.