KARACHI, March 13: The five different courts, trying Asif Ali Zardari, husband of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, in six cases have issued over 270 orders for his production in court during the past two years. None of the orders has been complied with.
He was arrested on November 5, 1996 at the Punjab Governor’s House following the dismissal of the Benazir government by then president Farooq Leghari.
He was initially detained under the Maintenance of Public Order. The police effected his arrest in the Mir Murtaza Bhutto murder case in late November 1996, after the Sindh High Court set aside his detention under the MPO.
The court issued as many as 25 orders for the production of Mr Zardari in court in the Murtaza murder case, being tried by the district and sessions judge, East, Sain Ali Dino Matilo, at the Central Prison, Karachi.
The case was transferred to the district and sessions judge, East, in August, 2001 after Judge Yasmin Abbasi of the Small Causes Court had refused to try it some six months before its transfer due to the “non-cooperation of the prosecution and defence lawyers.”
Murtaza Bhutto was killed along with six others, including his close aide Ashiq Jatoi, in September 1996 about 100 metres from his house in Clifton by a police contingent during an alleged shootout.
Asif Zardari, Shoaib Suddle, then DIG Karachi, Wajid Durrani, then senior superintendent of police, South, Masood Sharif, then chief of the Intelligence Bureau, Shahid Hiyat, then SP of Saddar, Rai Mohammed Tahir, then ASP of Darkhshan, Shabbir Ahmed Qaimkhani, then SHO of Garden police station, Agha Mohammed Jameel, then SHO of Napier PS, ASI Abdul Basit, head constables Muslim Shah and Faisal Hafeez and constables Zafar Iqbal, Zulfiqar Ahmed, Ghulam Mustafa, Ahmed Khan, Raja Hameed, Gulzar Khan, Zakir Mehmood and Ghulam Shabbir were the arrested accused in the case. They all have been granted bail.
The trial of the Murtaza Bhutto murder case has come to a halt since the deposition of the 17th out of the total 223 prosecution witnesses due to the non-production of the prime accused, Asif Zardari, in the court.
The court had recorded the statement of Ghulam Mustafa, a worker of Mir Murtaza and an eyewitness in the case, in July 2000, but the PW is yet to be cross-examined by the defence counsel.
Mr Zardari, who was granted bail in the case in December last year, has not been produced in the court despite repeated notices to the jail authorities and the Sindh home department for his production in the court.
Later, he was charge-sheeted in the container case, Justice Nizam murder case, attempt to commit suicide cases, Alam Baloch murder case, SGC reference, ARY Gold reference, tractor reference, Sajjad Hussain murder case and Polo Ground reference.
Mr Zardari, being represented by Shahadat Awan in Karachi, was booked in 11 cases, including the Justice Nizam murder case and attempt to commit suicide cases, during the Nawaz Sharif government. He was booked in the Polo Ground reference and in the Sajjad Hussain murder case after the dismissal of the Nawaz government.
On May 10, 1999 the police obtained his remand in the Justice Nizam murder case. During his remand, he was booked in two cases of attempt to commit suicide on May 17 and May 19.
The court issued as many as 122 orders for the production of Mr Zardari in the Justice Nizam murder case, being tried in the district and session court, Central, headed by Judge Zafar Ahmed Sherwani.
The police submitted the final charge-sheets in the attempt to commit suicide cases in the court of the Judicial Magistrate, Syeda Perveen Shah, who issued as many as 105 orders for the production in the court of ailing Asif Zardari, who at present is lodged in the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences at Islamabad, under the custody of Attock Jail.
On March 11, an additional district and sessions judge, South, Farooq Ali Channa, directed the provincial authorities of Punjab and Sindh to ensure the production of Mr Zardari in Sajjad Hussain murder case in his court on March 31.
