Karachi:
Federal Anti-Corruption Court has acquitted Senate’s chairman Yousuf Raza Gilani in nine cases related to the Trade Development Authority in Pakistan (TDAP) Mega Corruption Scandal.
The court announced his sentence on Gilani’s acquittal on Thursday. The PPP leader, who served as the country’s prime minister between 2008 and 2012, appeared in court during the hearing with other co-accused.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had registered 26 cases relative to the scandal. Gilani had already been acquitted in three of these cases earlier.
In a speech with the media after the hearing, the chairman of the Senate said he had been facing these cases for 12 years. “Some of those who were then a student now appear as prosecutors in the case. Delay in justice corresponds to the denial of justice,” he said.
Gilani’s lawyer Farooq H. Naek, who spoke with the media, said a total of 26 cases were registered in 2013-14 despite similar accusations being smoothed in all of them.
“Yousuf Raza Gilani was accused of receiving RS5 million [as kickback]Not directly but allegedly through a person named Zubair. No witness ever claimed that Gilani personally received the money. The court had already acquitted him in three cases. Now, nine more acquittals have been awarded, ”he said.
Naek said that FIA’s appeal against the acquittals was pending in a Supreme Court.
