ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday dismissed the Registrar’s Office’s objection to former president Asif Zardari’s request to transfer the corruption case against him from the Islamabad accountability court to Karachi.

The order was given by Supreme Court Justice Umar Ata Bandial SC when he heard the request in his room.

Zardari’s advisor, Farooq H Naek appeared on behalf of the former president. After hearing his arguments, the SC judge permitted the appeal and ordered the Office of the Registrar to revise the main application before the judge within two weeks.

Earlier, on November 3, the deputy chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had approached the top court and asked to transfer the Toshakhana – the prize depository – a reference from Islamabad No III Accountability Court to the court in Karachi in view of his poor health.

The top court, while hearing the suo motu case regarding the fake accounts, has ordered the trial of the accused in Islamabad. The court has rejected the review petition against his order.

The Clerk of the Clerk had previously declared the miscellaneous civil appeal (CMA) as “not entertaining” and returned the CMA along with the paper book.

According to the SC office, the petition could not be accepted because NAB – the prosecutor in this case – submitted a reference in connection with the Supreme Court order.

The high court has rejected Zardari’s previous application to transfer the corruption case to the Karachi court. It said the SC rules prohibited refilling of review applications.

PPP leaders challenged The SC office ordered on November 10, claiming that it is unsustainable in law and case law, as pronounced by the Supreme Court.

The appeal says that the applicant is a constitutional right to knock on the door of the high court, but the SC Registrar’s Office order shows that the applicant’s rights have been blocked at the institutional level, which is not a court practice.

It said the order was based on a misunderstanding of laws and rules framed by the high court because of questions about returning applications to non-maintainability relating to judicial work that could not be taken on the side of the executive or through delegation of powers to exercise. judicial work.

“The disputed order has been signed by the Assistant Registrar (Civil-II) of the Registrar in violation of Order 5, Rule 1 of the Supreme Court Regulations, 1980,” the application said. Strictly speaking Sequence 5 Rule 1 of SC rules shows that the power of returning the application in the original along with the paper book is not within the scope and power of the assistant registrar, questioning how then the assistant registrar returns it later.

“We pray with respect that this respectable court can accept the appeal filed by the petitioner and override the order dated 10-11-2020,” according to the petition.

In his application, the PPP leader also claimed to have been involved in false, slanderous and politically motivated cases to seek revenge.

The application stated that “throughout history, former presidents have been made to suffer from political victimization and riots by involving him in fake and fake cases”.

“The petitioner has been repeatedly subjected to political revenge and retaliation. He has seen the harshness of imprisonment many times in bogus and politically motivated cases over an accumulative period of around eleven years and has done so with a belief in the independence of Pakistan’s judiciary and judicial system. that he was acquitted of all fabricated and fabricated cases against him, “his defense read further.

The application stated that Zardari was suffering from various illnesses and was seriously ill.

“He is around 65 years old and is a chronic patient suffering from various diseases including but not limited to cardiovascular disease as long as he has three stents in his heart, he also suffers from ischemic heart disease, high blood pressure, peripheral sensory and autonomic. neuropathic, he’s hypoglycemic (has unstable low blood sugar) and has diabetes, and a Holter Monitor is attached to his arm.

In addition, the applicant also experienced lumber and cervical spondylosis (spinal disease). The applicant then suffered from arthritis and his platelet count was unstable. This is evidenced by a certificate and report from the health council established by the Islamabad High Court. Despite this fact, all the suspects, witnesses and documents are from Karachi and the subject of the reference is related to Sindh province, ”said the application.

It was also stated that there was evidence of considerable prejudice for both the applicant and the witness if the references were not transferred.

“Karachi (Sindh) will not cripple the state / NAB and would rather reduce the serious difficulties of the applicant to have a fair and impartial trial in a more pleasant atmosphere,” the application wrote.

The PPP deputy chairman is facing various corruption cases stemming from a massive money laundering scandal, which surfaced in 2018.