Accountability court rejects Zardari, Talpur's request for 'A' class facilities in jail

Published August 20, 2019
In this file photo, PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari is pictured alongside his sister Faryal Talpur leaving the FIA's Islamabad directorate. — DawnNewsTV/File
In this file photo, PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari is pictured alongside his sister Faryal Talpur leaving the FIA's Islamabad directorate. — DawnNewsTV/File

An accountability court in Islamabad on Tuesday rejected a request filed by PPP's Asif Ali Zardari and Faryal Talpur — both under National Accountability Bureau's custody in the fake accounts case — for the provision of 'A' Class facilities to them in Adiala jail.

The court, however, granted approval for various amenities to be installed or brought for use at their own expense.

Today's hearing was conducted by accountability court judge Mohammad Bashir in which the defendants were represented by counsels Farooq H. Naek and Sardar Latif Khan Khosa.

An application seeking ‘A’ Class facilities for Zardari and Talpur in prison had been submitted on Friday.

Khosa had argued during Friday's hearing that his client had been given ‘A’ Class facilities in jail even before he became the president of Pakistan. He said the former president had turned old and had been suffering from multiple diseases, yet the jail authorities were not providing him proper care.

The matter had been adjourned until today and Zardari and Talpur were exempted from personal appearance.

The court today allowed the provision of the following additional facilities on personal expenditure to the incarcerated PPP leaders:

  • Airconditioning
  • Television
  • Radio
  • Ipad/Ipod
  • Refrigerator
  • Cooker
  • Kettle
  • Toaster
  • Torch
  • Electric mosquito killer
  • Iron

Besides the above-mentioned appliances, approval was also granted for a personal attendant.

An application had also been submitted by Talpur seeking permission to participate in the Sindh Assembly session. The court asked the counsels to approach the inspector general of prisons in this regard for transit remand.

The judicial remand for both Zardari and Talpur has been extended till September 5.

The fake bank accounts case involves alleged money laundering worth billions of rupees through 29 accounts, which were found opened in three banks — Summit Bank, Sindh Bank and United Bank Ltd.

The Federal Investigation Agency had named Zardari, his sibling Talpur, Omni Group chairman Anwar Majeed, his sons and over 10 others as suspects in an interim charge sheet filed in a banking court in August last year.

The case was transferred from the banking court in Karachi to the accountability court of Rawalpindi for trial in March.

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