During hearing, Farooq H.Naek, Zardari's counsel, told the court that the main accused in the polo ground reference case Saeed Mehdi was acquitted by the court. "If the main accused Saeed Mehdi was not found involved in the illegal act then there is no option to proceed with the reference against his client," he said. He said the investigation into the polo ground case was conducted by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) instead of NAB, which is unlawful. Naek said the statements of 28 eye-witnesses and two investigating officers had been recorded in the case and added that none of the witnesses had nominated Zardari.
Naek said that Lieutenant General Abdul Qayyum (Retd) remained Benazir's military secretary from 1994 to 1996, adding that according to him, neither Zardari nor Benazir Bhutto had ever ordered the construction of a polo ground. The NAB prosecutor told the court that a charge-sheet had been prepared against Zardari and witnesses in the case should be given a chance to appear in court, so that the accused should be indicted.
The accountability court re-opened NAB references against former President Asif Ali Zardari on October 11 and issued a notice to him to appear before the court on October 14. The references against the former president include alleged kickbacks from SGS PSI Company, grant of licence to ARY Gold allegedly causing a huge loss to national exchequer, alleged illegal gratification and undue pecuniary advantage in the form of commission in the purchase of URSUS tractors under the Awami Tractor Scheme, alleged illegal award of contract to Cotecna for pre-shipment of assets beyond means and alleged illegal construction of polo ground at PM House.
The references against former President Zardari were adjourned when he was elected President of Pakistan on the basis of Constitutional immunity. All the co-accused in the reference, except Zardari, have already been acquitted, sources said. Former president Pervez Musharraf had withdrawn all cases against Zardari under National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) in 2007. The Supreme Court had later cancelled the NRO and re-opened all corruption cases against him.