Former President Asif Ali Zardari receives pre-arrest temporary bail until November 23 by the Islamabad liability court on Tuesday in the US property case.
Accountability Mr. Zardari was granted interim bail in exchange for Rs0.5 million in surety bonds, according to Judge Azam Khan.
Several witnesses have testified that Mr. Zardari had a flat in the Belaire Condominiums, located at 524 East 72nd Street in New York, according to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) had issued a call-up notice to the former president on June 15, requesting that he appear before a NAB team on June 24 in connection with the investigation into the ownership of a New York property.
Mr. Zardari, through his attorney Farooq Naek, said in the bail petition that the call-up notice was issued at the behest of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) administration and that this was the case. “It’s completely unfounded,” he said, adding that it was an “effort to defame me.”
The petition challenged NAB’s contention that Mr. Zardari was the owner of the New York property and asserted that the notification was issued in order to harass him and ruin his reputation, which was supported by the government.
Following the conclusion of the court proceedings, the former president chatted with members of the media. In his words, people who put Imran Khan in power now regret their actions and are looking for ways to rectify the situation.
Mr. Zardari stated that he is not confident that Mr. Khan will be able to fulfill his five-year term in power as president.
When asked about the affidavit of the former chief judge of Gilgit-Baltistan Rana Shamim Ahmed Khan, who claimed that then chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar had asked a judge of the Islamabad High Court in July 2018 to stall the release of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and other members of the Sharif family following the 2018 general elections, Mr. Zardari responded that he had witnessed an identical conversation between retired Justice Malik Qayyum and former Ehtesab Commission’s head Saifur Rehman and a ‘friend’.
