KARACHI: The Federal Anti-Corruption Court in Karachi on Friday acquitted Senate Chairman Yousuf Raza Gilani in all cases related to a multibillion-rupee Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) scandal.
Gilani, who served as the prime minister between 2008 and 2012, appeared in person before the anti-court court along with his lawyer.
The chairman of the upper house of parliament, along with former TDAP chairman Tariq Iqbal Puri, ex-director general Abdul Karim Daudpota and others, had been booked in over two dozen cases for alleged involvement in the approval and disbursement of freight subsidies worth billions of rupees to various firms through fake claims in violation of the prescribed procedure for the scheme.
In 2018, formal charges were framed against Gilani, Mohammad Daudpota, Farooq Awan Puri, Mohammad Zubair, and approximately 20 others.
However, after hearing arguments from both sides, the special federal anti-corruption court acquitted Gilani in 14 pending TDAP cases on Friday.
The former prime minister had already been acquitted in 12 of those cases previously.
Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, Senate Chairman Yousuf Raza Gillani termed the cases against him as “false and politically motivated.”
“I thank God and the court for granting me justice. These cases were based on baseless allegations,” he said and thanked his lawyer Farooq H Naek for presenting the case brilliantly.
To a question, Gilani — who is also a senior PPP leader — said that those who had once initiated cases against him are now his allies. “I can’t abandon them, but there needs to be reform. If a case is not decided within a reasonable time, it should be closed,” he added.
Senior lawyer Naek told reporters that 26 cases had been filed against the former premier in 2013 and 2014, all involving the same allegation — that he had accepted Rs500,000 in subsidies related to the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan.
“Gilani was already on bail in 10 of these cases, yet the FIA still declared him an absconder. Today, the court has cleared him of all charges… these were politically driven cases, and the judge has delivered justice for which we are grateful,” he added.
