The National Prosecuting Authority yesterday told the Pretoria High Court that the former head of the Scorpions, Leonard McCarthy, acted with "political purpose" when he charged Jacob Zuma with more than 700 counts of fraud and corruption in December 2007. The DA has called on the court to review and set aside the NPA's decision to drop all the charges against Zuma in 2009.The DA argued that the timing of the 2007 charges did not materially affect the validity of the case against Zuma, and that the president still has a case to answer. Zuma was originally charged in 2005 for crimes related to the arms deal but the Pietermaritzburg High Court struck that case from the roll in 2006.The NPA charged Zuma again on December 28 2007 after Zuma had been elected to the presidency of the ANC at the party's national elective congress in Polokwane.In March 2009, Zuma's legal team gave the then acting head of the NPA, Mokotedi Mpshe, recordings of phone conversations between McCarthy and former NPA boss Bulelani Ngcuka.On the tapes - popularly known as "the Spy Tapes" - Ngcuka and McCarthy are heard discussing whether then president Thabo Mbeki's prospects of being re-elected ANC president would be improved if the indictment against Zuma were to be served before, during or after the Polokwane conference.Based on these tapes, Mpshe decided in April 2009 not to prosecute Zuma.Counsel for the DA Sean Rosenberg said Mpshe's decision was not "rational"."It was a decision that reflected his own sense of betrayal and anger and outrage over McCarthy's conduct."Hilton Epstein, counsel for the NPA, said McCarthy was guilty of "serious abuse" of office in that he had clearly sought to improve Mbeki's prospects.When asked by Judge Billy Mothle to what extent the timing of the charges compromised the case against Zuma, Epstein replied: "The serving was delayed for one thing only - for a political purpose."..