RAWALPINDI, March 12: An accountability court on Wednesday quashed a corruption reference against PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and put off the hearing in an acquittal plea in the BMW reference as the case did not come within the ambit of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).

Judge Saghir Ahmed Qadri deleted the names of Asif Zardari, Nusrat Bhutto and former CBR chairman A.R. Siddiqui from the corruption reference relating to Cotecna, a Swiss company. However, the case will remain intact against four other accused who have never held any public office.

Mr Zardari has already been exonerated from five other corruption charges.

Asif Zardari was accused of taking six per cent of the total revenue of pre-shipment for awarding a contract to Cotecna. The commission was paid to an offshore company allegedly owned by him.

Hearing in the BMW case was put off till Friday after the defence counsel concluded his arguments. The case does not come under the purview of NRO because it was filed by the National Accountability Bureau after 1999.

The judge observed that the accused must appear in court because the case could not be quashed under the NRO. Defence lawyer Farooq H. Naek had sought exemption for his client from appearing in the court for security concerns.

The defence counsel concluded his arguments in the acquittal application under section 265-K (Power of Court to acquit accused at any stage) of the Criminal Procedure Code. He maintained that there was no documentary proof that the BMW was owned by Asif Zardari or he tried to evade any customs duty.

Mr Zardari was accused of impersonating himself as a student and importing a 1993 model armoured luxury vehicle with an intention to evade duties. The national exchequer was deprived of Rs10 million because of the deal.

According to the prosecution, the actual price of the bullet-proof vehicle with an un-laden weight of 2,560kgs was 55,000 pounds. But to evade duty, the accused showed the weight of the car as 1,610kgs and costing 12,000 pounds.

The import of the car was allegedly arranged by the owner of a supermarket in Karachi, from London in the name of Sajjad Qayyum, a Pakistani student, under the personal baggage scheme.

Even freight charges of the PIA had not been fully paid, the prosecution alleged. The customs duty was cleared by the Jumbo customs clearance agency.

The prosecution alleged that the accused did not claim the vehicle when it came for maintenance at the workshop of a brother-in-law of a former chairman of the Capital Development Authority.