His father Chaudhry Ghulam Ahmed Ali Zaildar was a prominent personality of his area who migrated to Pakistan with his family in 1947.
His brother, Chaudhry Abdul Sattar Vario, won his 3rd term as MNA from NA-88 in the same elections and became Federal Minister for Industries.In the same polls his son, Ch.
He later joined PML-Q and played important role in the successes of their candidates in the 2001 LB polls, in which they gained 61 UC Nazim slots from a possible 124 seats.
He was imprisoned during 2002–2003 by the National Accountability Bureau, who accused him of corruption charges, but was acquitted by Lahore High Court, which deemed the case against him not to be strong enough.
Akhtar Ali died at the age of 76, in Services Institute of Medical Sciences on 16 June 2008 after being in a coma for five days.