ISLAMABAD: Grip around former president Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur seems to get tighter as Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan’s (SECP) former director Javed Hussain has turned approver in the Park Lane Estate Company reference against him.
The SECP’s former director was produced in an accountability court upon expiry of his physical remand under the custody of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
The NAB prosecutor argued in the courtroom for extension in Javed’s physical remand for carrying out further investigation into the case. To which, the court asked about the number of days the suspect had been under NAB custody. The court was told that it had been 49 days.
Subsequently, the court rejected NAB’s request and sent Javed to jail under judicial remand.
In the previous hearing, the court had extended Javed’s physical remand till Oct 15. During the hearing, the NAB prosecutor informed the court about proceedings in investigation process in the case.
Javed Hussain is in NAB custody since end August in Park Lane case, for allegedly “facilitating the resignation of former President Asif Ali Zardari from two companies when he was President”.
On Oct 4, an accountability court extended PPP leaders’ judicial remand till Oct 22 in the money laundering through fake bank accounts and Park Lane Estate Company references as both of them could not be indicted in the hearing.
Judge Muhammad Bashir conducted the hearing of the cases, and remarked a course of action should be determined to avoid any delay in proceedings. NAB Prosecutor Sardar Muzaffar argued that a procedure was determined earlier as well.
To this, the judge responded that the number of suspects involved in the case surged to 30 from earlier two.
Later, Zardari spoke to the media outside the court and expressed his full support to Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam’s (JUI-F) anti-government Azadi March.
