Court acquits Yousuf Raza Gilani in all TDAP corruption cases

ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman and former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was acquitted in all cases related to the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) mega corruption scandal.

The Federal Anti-Corruption Court in Karachi heard the cases where Gilani appeared in person. In a verdict today, the court acquitted Gilani and the other accused in the remaining 14 cases. Earlier, the court removed charges against the former prime minister in 12 cases related to the TDAP scandal.

Talking to the media after the hearing, defense lawyer Farooq H. Naik said that the FIA had registered a total of 26 cases against Yousaf Raza Gilani in 2013 and 2014, with the same allegation of taking Rs 5 million for the TDAP subsidy.

During the hearing, the court remarked that the money did not come into Gilani’s account, as if the money had been transferred to his account, it would have been withdrawn from it.

The court also criticised the handling of the case, stating that a key witness who had turned approver was later made an accused, and that some case records were still pending with the high court.

Addressing the reporters today, Chairman Senate said that false cases were made against me, and Farooq H. Naik fought the case in the best way. “Thank God that today the court has honorably acquitted him in all the cases,” he said.

The investigation into the TDAP corruption cases began in 2009 against Gilani, former TDAP chairman Tariq Iqbal Puri, former director general Abdul Karim Daudpota, and others 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.

Later, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) started registering the cases in 2013, and Yousaf Raza Gilani was named as an accused in the final challan of the cases in 2015. In 2018, formal charges were framed against Gilani and approximately 20 others.