President Asif Ali Zardari’s legal team invoked presidential immunity on Tuesday during an accountability court hearing on the Park Lane reference. Zardari’s lawyers, Farooq H Naek and Arshad Tabraiz, argued that as the elected president, Zardari is entitled to immunity from legal proceedings. They asserted that the case against the president cannot proceed due to this immunity clause.
Presiding over the hearing, Accountability Court Judge Nasir Javed Rana questioned whether the case could continue against the co-accused. Zardari’s legal representatives affirmed that legal action could proceed against the remaining defendants.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor argued that the case involves a private bank and questioned the court’s jurisdiction to hear it under existing laws. Deputy prosecutor Azhar Maqbool Shah presented arguments concerning other references, stating that he would address this reference at the next hearing.
The Park Lane reference alleges that Zardari influenced relevant authorities during his previous presidential term (2008-2013) to secure loans for his ‘front companies’. NAB claimed that Harish and Company, a frontline firm of Zardari’s Park Lane Estate, caused a loss of Rs60 million to the national exchequer.
The former president allegedly received a loan of Rs1.5 billion for Parthenon Private Limited with malicious intent, and the funds were later diverted for personal use through fake bank accounts. NAB accused Zardari of causing a loss of Rs3.77 billion to the national exchequer.
