Islamabad: A Pakistani anti-corruption court today directed Interior Minister Rahman Malik, a beneficiary of a graft amnesty struck down by the Supreme Court, to appear before it on January 2.
Malik’s lawyer Amjad Iqbal Qureshi filed an application for bail in connection with two corruption cases that were reopened after the apex court annulled the National
Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) last week.
The minister, a senior leader of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party, was convicted and sentenced to three years in jail in both cases because he failed to appear before the
accountability or anti-corruption court.
Malik’s conviction and the two cases were quashed in March last year under the NRO.
The judge told Qureshi today that Malik should be present during the next hearing on January 2 when the bail application would be taken up.
Qureshi told the judge that Malik was free on bail when the two cases were withdrawn in March 2008 and he should be granted bail again after the reopening of the cases.
Qureshi told reporters outside the court that Malik was prepared to "appear in court to present his views so that he could get justice and prove his innocence".
The lawyer acknowledged that Malik was given a three-year jail term for his failure to appear in the accountability court in the past but pointed out that this was because Malik was not in Pakistan at the time.
PTI
