ISLAMABAD: The Sup­reme Court on Wednesday issued a notice to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on a set of appeals filed by former president Asif Ali Zardari seeking transfer of corruption references to any accountability court in Karachi from Islamabad.

Headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial, the three-judge bench also issued notices to all respondents in the petition namely the presiding officer of accountability court, Islamabad; former prime ministers Yousuf Raza Gillani and Nawaz Sharif, and former CEO of Summit Bank Hussain Lawai.

During the hearing, the court observed that it had to determine under what situation the Supreme Court had ordered fixing of the corruption references in the Islamabad accountability courts instead of Karachi courts.

Senior counsel Farooq H. Naek representing Mr Zardari argued that any accused under the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999, could file an application to seek transfer of his case from one accountability court to another, adding that a court order could not take this right away from any petitioner.

He informed the court that his client had been acquitted of earlier allegations levelled against him and tried in different accountability courts including in Rawalpindi, Islamabad, and Attock Fort.

The former president has been facing four different cases in Islamabad accountability courts: the Fake Bank accounts, Park Lane Estate Private Ltd, Thatta Water Supply and Toshakhana.

The petition pleaded that the cases were causing great discomfort to the applicant who was suffering from several ailments and was currently on medical bail.

The petition said that the petitioner was 65 years of age and was suffering from several chronic ailments, including but not limited to cardiovascular disease having three stents in his heart, suffers from ischemic heart disease, high blood pressure, sensory peripheral and autonomic neuropathy, hypoglycemic (having unstable low blood sugar) and diabetes and a holter monitor was attached to his arm.

Moreover, it said, the petitioner also had lumber and cervical spondylosis (spine disease), arthritis and his platelet count was also not stable.

On Oct 10 last year, the petition said, Mr Zardari’s medical condition deteriorated and, on the advice of doctors, he was admitted to Dr Ziauddin Hospital, Karachi, and since then the applicant had been admitted to the hospital where his medical condition was under the constant supervision of doctors who had advised him to take proper care and precautions and not to travel, but he had to do so recently to attend hearing of cases pursuant to orders passed by different accountability courts in Islamabad.

The petition said that hundreds of cases were being tried in NAB’s courts in Karachi, but the trial of the applicant in Islamabad showed a deliberate bias towards the applicant and, therefore, the transfer of the cases to Karachi would be in harmony with Article 25 of the Constitution.

Published in Dawn, January 28th, 2021