Zardari gets bail till 28th in US flat probe

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday granted interim bail to former president Asif Zardari till July 28, in a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) inquiry pertaining to a property in New York City.

The court granted bail to the former president against surety bonds worth Rs500,000 and stopped the NAB from arresting him until the next date of hearing. The bench also sought comments from the anti-graft body against the pre-arrest bail petition.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Justice Aamer Farooq announced the decision after listening to arguments from the petitioner’s lawyer Farook H Naek. Zardari appeared before the court in compliance with the bench’s directives.

Aside from Naek, former Punjab governor Sardar Latif Khosa was also in attendance. As the former president reached the IHC, his legal team requested the Registrar Office to allow his vehicle’s entry to reach outside the court room due to his health ailment. However, he walked to the courtroom.

The former president had challenged NAB’s call-up notice before the IHC and requested interim bail till the completion of inquiry. The petition says that the NAB had served a call-up notice to former president on June 15, regarding an inquiry pertaining to the apartment in Manhattan.

The NAB had sent a questionnaire and sought detailed answers till June 24.

The petition said Zardari was at risk of being arrested like the past and requested the court to turn down the call-up notice and grant an interim bail to the petitioner till the final decision of the case.