ISLAMABAD, July 2: An accountability court in Islamabad on Tuesday extended former president Asif Ali Zardari’s physical remand for 13 days under the custody of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Rawalpindi for further investigation into the Park Lane reference. As the hearing of the case resumed, the judge asked if both NAB investigation officers could interrogate Zardari on a single remand.
Responding to the court, investigation officers said that they would manage as per the court’s directives. “Can the NAB inform in how many cases Zardari’s arrest is required?” the judge asked.
To this, Sardar Muzaffar said the bureau could only answer to that when the accused person’s involvement is evident in any case(s).
“It is not possible to tell in how many cases he will be arrested,” he responded.
The judge replied: “In this way, you can initiate investigations against him in 22 cases…and if every investigation officer interrogates him for an hour that would be investigation of 22 hours per day.” Zardari’s defense counsel, Farooq H Naik, stated before the court that transparent investigation is a part of a fair trial, and the NAB should have proceeded with the investigations in a fair manner. The judge ordered that Asif Zardari to be produced before the court on July 15.
Earlier, NAB presented Asif Zardari before Judge Arshad Malik to seek the extension into the physical remand.-Sabah
