Reserving the verdict on acquittal petition filed by co-accused in ARY Gold Reference Salman Farooqi, the Special Accountability Court No. 2 Rawalpindi has adjourned the hearing till March 6. Justice (retd) Chaudhary Mushtaq Ahmed represented Salman Farooqi while National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was represented by Mirza Usman Baig when the proceeding was started on Monday. The counsel of Salman Farooqi while giving his arguments said that the name of his client was not mentioned as accused when the ARY Reference was made in 1997 and his name was included in supplementary reference in 1998. He further said that Salman Farooqi had no hand in the cancellation of licenses of Messers Al-Rahim and Al-Ramzan Companies which were interested in the import of Gold in fact his client in his official note had recommended the issuing of licenses according to the rules and regulations. Secretary General of President Asif Ali Zardari, Salman Farooqi in his detailed statement has rejected his involvement in ARY Gold Case, saying he did not submit any application to get relief under National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO). In his acquittal application filed by his counsel Chaudhary Mushtaq Ahmed Khan in Accountability Court No. 2 Rawalpindi, the secretary general of the president maintained that a baseless case was framed against him as he was not Secretary commerce but Secretary Water and Power at the time of issuing of license of Commercial Import to ARY Gold. Salman Farooqui said that he was allowed by then Prime Minister to go to foreign country for surgery and during his stay there, a case was filed against him and he was nominated co-accused. He termed the filing of reference against him as character assassination campaign and he was subjected to political vendetta soon after the removal of the government of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and it was mentioned in Annual Report on Human Right 1997. The secretary general of the president underlined that the said reference was based on assumptions, adding all statistics, documents and cutting of newspapers were provided in his detailed answer. He said that he neither misused his powers nor avoided to face courts on opening of baseless case against him, adding he was not NRO beneficiary but NAB itself dropped the case and acquitted him. He said that the case has been pended for the last 13 years and requested the abolishment of the reference as it was based on political vendetta. Salman Farooqi in his petition took the stance that he during his service protected the interests of the government and people and action cannot be taken against him under Article 9 and 10 of NAB Ordinance. He further said that he had excellent service record and his trial on that baseless reference would cause irreversible loss to his prestige and status. The secretary general said that the Accountability Cell of that time used the statements of different personalities in Gold Case Reference to achieve its objectives and referred the fake statement of Mrs. Neelum S. Ali. Terming the reference as dead-horse, he said that the respondents never challenged the release orders of the petitioners and under these circumstances, the trial against him would be against law. He referred State Vs Amir Lodhi case in this regard and requested his acquittal in the reference. Salman Farooqi filed the petition through his counsels Chaudhary Mushtaq Ahmed Khan, Rizwan Mushtaq, Ashfaq Qayyum Cheema and Rana Kashif Saleem.