- Terming Zardari to be ‘ill informed and ill advised’, Ausaf calls for public clarification of Hudabiya case
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Law Ashtar Ausaf Ali strongly rebutted Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari’s “wild” allegations against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.
Terming Zardari to be “ill informed and ill advised”, Ausaf went on to say that insinuation reported in the media calls for clarification so that the truth accepted by superior courts be made public. The record should be corrected once for all, he stressed.
He said that the Hudabiya Paper Mills case (Reference No 5 of 2000) was quashed by the Lahore High Court, vide its judgment dated March 3, 2014 passed in writ petition No 2617/2011, which held that the alleged statement is illegal and without lawful authority. This verdict has become final and should suffice to put an end to the malicious propaganda on the subject, he said.
“Although the Hudabiya Paper Mills case was thrown out by the Lahore High court, as far back as 1996, yet unscrupulous elements keep referring to it for ulterior purposes. The campaign of vilification and slander against the finance minister despite the said judgment goes on for ulterior motives,” he said.
Ausaf added that despite microscopic and forensic examination of record, both private and public, no wrongdoing was ever found by any of the investigating agencies. “This speaks volumes of unblemished professional and political career of the finance minister.”
The SA to PM further said that people involved in the “shameful and unscrupulous maneuvering” against the finance minister are called upon to restrain from further propaganda about any alleged confessional statement and “should appreciate for once, the ruthless pressure faced by him and the sufferings of the family which was resisted even in the most oppressive regime of Gen Musharaf – details of which were made public in 2003 without any rebuttal from any quarter”.
“Should someone was to continue to level baseless accusations against Dar, he would have the right to take legal action against the Kazzaab (Liar) which may not be limited to civil proceedings only but may also entail criminal proceedings under the law within and outside Pakistan,” Ashtar concluded.