ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Monday extended the physical remand of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Zardari by 14 days in the Park Lane case.
The former president was produced in the court of accountability judge Muhammad Bashir who replaced judge Arshad Malik after the latter was removed in the wake of a scandalous video.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), who had presented Zardari, pleaded for an extension in the remand which was accepted by the court. The court, after granting the extension, ordered the corruption watchdog to again produce Zardari on July 29.
Zardari’s children – PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Aseefa and Bakhtawar – were, however, allowed to visit him twice a week.
PARK LANE SAGA:
NAB apprehended Zardari in the Park Lane case on July 1 after his warrants were approved by anti-corruption chief Justice retired Javed Iqbal.
The former president was already in NAB detention in the fake bank accounts case after his bail was rejected by the Islamabad High Court in June.
NAB has accused the former president of purchasing 2,460 Kanal land in a posh locality in Islamabad through Park Lane Estate (Pvt) Ltd in March 2009.
In 1997, NAB had dropped a case against Zardari pertaining to the same property over lack of evidence. The property worth Rs2billion, was acquired in Rs620 million, said NAB sources.
The report further claimed that the former president can be presented before an accountability court in the next 24 hours.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari is also a nominee in the case.