RAWALPINDI, March 5: Two accountability courts dismissed five corruption cases against PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari here on Wednesday, clearing the way for him to hold government office.

Last week, the Supreme Court had lifted a stay order against the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRC), opening the way for Wednesday’s ruling.

The NRO gives amnesty to all those who had been in office between 1986 and 1999.

The courts, in their judgments, abolished the cases against all public office holders and ordered the return of the confiscated property to the accused. The courts said that the future of the accused, other than public servants, would be determined after they moved application for acquittal.

Asif Ali Zardari’s lawyer Farooq H. Naek said the “truth has prevailed at last” as the prosecution had failed to prove its charges although his client remained in jail for over eight years.

The court had quashed five cases against Asif Ali Zardari and unfrozen his assets, Mr Naek said. Two more cases were pending, but would be thrown out at the next hearing, he said.

“Ms Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari were victims of draconian laws, but today all cases have ended like the dark, old night,” Mr Naek said.

He said the PPP did not believe in vengeance, recalling Ms Bhutto’s observation: “democracy is the best revenge.”

He further said that the PPP wanted the National Accountability Bureau to be abolished as it had always been used to persecute political rivals.

“It is high time that selective prosecution is finished,” he said.

Accountability Court 2 Judge Chaudhry Muhammad Younas, acceding to the acquittal plea of the PPP leader, dismissed the ARY Gold and the SGS cases against Mr Zardari and other accused.

In the ARY Gold case other public office holders were Salman Tariq, Talat Javaid and Aslam Hayat Qureshi.

The owner of the ARY group, Haji Abdur Rehman, and his brothers were the co-accused, but the case against them was not dismissed as they never held public office.

In the SGS case, former CBR chairman A.R. Siddiqui was the co-accused with Mr Zardari and Ms Benazir Bhutto. Both the PPP leaders had been given three years’ imprisonment in absentia in the two cases.

They were charged with taking kickbacks in a shipment agreement with the Swiss company.

Accountability Court 4 Judge Khalid Mehmood dismissed five cases in total -- three against Mr Zardari and two against former FIA chief Rehman Malik.

Mr Zardari was an accused in the Polo Ground, Ursus Tractors and “unlawful assets” cases.

In the Polo Ground case, Mr Shafeh Sahwani, a former chairman of the Capital Development Authority (CDA); and Saeed Mehdi, former commissioner of Islamabad, were the co-accused.

In the Ursus tractors’ case, Mr Zardari and Ms Bhutto were the main accused, while in the unlawful assets’ case, Begum Nusrat Bhutto was a co-accused along with the Mr Zardari and Ms Bhutto. In this case, the court had declared Asif Ali Zardai as a proclaimed offender.

The judge also dropped two misappropriation cases against Mr Rehman Malik. The court ordered the attached properties of both Mr Zardari and Mr Reman to be detached. The properties include three cars, a polo ground and some sugar mills.

Hearing in two other cases – the BMW and Cotecna -- was adjourned till March 12 as the relevant judge was on leave.