Anti-corruption court to hear Pakistani minister’s plea Feb 2
By IANSTuesday, January 12, 2010
RAWALPINDI - An anti-corruption court here will Feb 2 hear a plea by Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik seeking exemption from personal appearance in two cases in which he is charged with misappropriation.
Malik and his counsel Amjad Qureshi Tuesday appeared before judge Tariq Abbasi of the Accountability Court and sought exemption from personal appearance on grounds of the security risk involved, Online news agency reported.
He also cited his hectic schedule and other engagements to seek exemption.
Abbasi then ruled that no decision could be taken as a similar plea was pending before the Lahore High Court and was to be heard on Jan 26. He then adjourned the case till Feb 2.
The cases against Malik had been referred to the Accountability Court by corruption watchdog National Accountability Bureau (NAB). They date back to 2004 and Malik had obtained bail in both cases.
The cases went into limbo after then president Pervez Musharraf promulgated the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) in October 2007 granting immunity from corruption charges to slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and her husband Zardari, as also some 250 politicians and bureaucrats, and had enabled them return home from exile.
The cases against Malik and all those who had benefited from the NRO were revived after a 17-member Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry ruled Dec 16 that the decree was illegal and against the constitution.
This ruling is now hanging like the proverbial Sword of Damocles over the heads of Zardari, as also over Defence Minister Ahmad Mukhtar, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani, former principal secretary to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and presently Executive Director of the Asian Development Bank Siraj Shamsuddin and former Intelligence Bureau chief Brigadir (retd) Imtiaz, to name just a few.
Zardari, on his part, has said he was willing to face the courts if it was ruled that he did not enjoy presidential immunity.
