Fake accounts case: Zardari, Talpur appear before court.

RAWALPINDI -- Former president and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Monday appeared before an accountability court in Islamabad in the money laundering through fake bank accounts case.

Justice Arshad Malik is presiding over hearing of the case as 26 accused persons have appeared in the court. They are appearing in the same case for the third time.

Reportedly, strict security measures are formulated and implemented around the court and its premises, and a heavy contingent of police has been deployed to prevent any untoward incident during the hearing.

Entry of unauthorized persons into the court was restricted; however media persons have been allowed to access the court room.

PPP leaders have also filed an application for extension in their interim bail which ends today. IHC's two-member bench comprising of Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani are scheduled to hear the application.

Contrarily, the NAB has pleaded with the court, in its written reply, to not extend their bail.

Meanwhile, the court accepted an application of exemption from personal appearance in the hearing today, filed on behalf of four accused persons from the total 30 suspects nominated by the National Accountability Court (NAB) in the same case.

On April 16, NAB prosecutor Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi had told the court that some accused...