The National Assembly Secretariat on Wednesday issued a production order each for former president Asif Zardari and MNA Khawaja Saad Rafique, both of whom are being probed for corruption by National Accountability Bureau in separate cases.
Zardari had been taken into custody by NAB on June 10 after cancellation of his pre-arrest bail in the fake accounts case. Zardari's sister, Faryal Talpur, was taken into NAB custody on June 14. Both PPP leaders are currently on remand.
Rafique, along with his brother, Khawaja Salman Rafique is currently in judicial custody in connection with a corruption reference filed by NAB earlier this year.
The production orders dated June 19 have been issued for the ongoing NA session that was called on June 10 to discuss the finance bill.
According to the separate orders issued for Zardari and Rafique, NA Speaker Asad Qaiser "considers their presence during the said session necessary".
"In exercise of the powers conferred by Rule 108 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly 2007, the Honourable Speaker has been pleased to summon Asif Ali Zardari, Member, National Assembly to attend the said session at the Parliament House, Islamabad," the order for Zardari states.
"You are therefore directed to produce Mr Asif Ali Zardari, Member, National Assembly at the commencement of each sitting of the National Assembly before the Seargeant-at-Arms at the Parliament House, Islamabad, who shall, after the conclusion of the sittings deliver him into your custody accordingly."
Similarly, the order issued for Khwaja Saad Rafique, containing largely the same text as Zardari's and addressed to the District Camp Jail in Lahore, states that the Seargeant-at-Arms shall deliver Rafique to the custody of the jail superintendent after the conclusion of the parliamentary session.
Copies of the orders signed by additional secretary were sent to the NAB chairman and director general, the interior secretary, the Punjab chief secretary, chief commissioner Islamabad, and the police chiefs of Islamabad and Punjab.
PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, who spoke briefly at the start of today's NA session, had urged the speaker to issue production orders for his father, PML-N's Saad Rafique, and two Waziristan MNAs, Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir.
Source