- Former president Asif Zardari appears before IHC in New York apartment case.
- IHC accepts bail plea till July 28.
- Zardari says he would not advice anyone to come to Pakistan.
ISLAMABAD: Taking a jibe at Nawaz Sharif’s Punjab affiliation, former president Asif Ali Zardari Wednesday said that the PML-N supremo’s domicile is “better” than his.
He made the remarks outside the Islamabad High Court (IHC) where he had come for a hearing of a case related to the ownership of an apartment in New York.
When asked whether he would advise Nawaz to return, Zardari said he would not suggest anyone come back to Pakistan, but if someone wants to, they can.
Another journalist asked the PPP leader to give his opinion on whether the laws are different for him and the PML-N leader. To this, he said, “Mian Sahab’s domicile is better than mine”.
It is pertinent to note that the PPP is of the view that Zardari is being targeted because he is from Sindh and Nawaz, a Punjabi leader, was allowed to go abroad.
Pre-arrest bail granted
Earlier, the IHC accepted the pre-arrest bail of the former president in the New York Apartment case.
The PPP co-chairperson had approached the IHC seeking pre-arrest bail after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) opened an investigation into an apartment allegedly owned by him.
A division bench comprising IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Aamer Farooq heard the case.
The court accepted the bail against surety bonds of Rs0.5 million till July 28 and issued a notice to NAB.
Before the hearing, Zardari’s counsel had requested the court to allow the vehicle of the former president to enter the court’s premises on medical and security grounds.
On Tuesday, the IHC had rejected the request to hear pre-arrest bail plea in absentia.
Zardari’s counsel, Farooq H Naek had pleaded that the former president couldn’t appear before the court due to health problems and prayed the court to grant him bail in the NAB inquiry in his absence.
He had contended that Zardari was under treatment at a private hospital in Karachi.
Commenting on the remarks, Justice Aamer Farooq had said that the presence of the applicant is necessary in pre-arrest bail cases.
Upon hearing the court’s remarks, Naik said that Zardari will be presented before the court tomorrow (July 7) and will be brought to the premises via an air ambulance.
What’s the NY Apartment case?
The NAB has informed the former president, via a notice, that he had not disclosed in Pakistan that he owned an apartment in New York’s Manhattan area.
NAB also pointed out in the notice that the anti-graft body could not obtain records confirming that any legal sum was sent from Pakistan to buy the flat in New York.
The former president wrote in the petition that he received NAB’s notice on June 15 and had sought time to respond to the notice. Zardari said he had requested time so he could gather information about the property.
“There is a history of NAB targeting me,” stated the former president in the petition. “I am suffering from several ailments, and getting treatment from doctors,” he had added.
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