Asif Ali Zardari files fresh plea for acquittal in Toshakhana case

KARACHI: Former president Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday filed a fresh plea in the accountability court of Islamabad seeking his acquittal in the Toshakhana (gift depository) reference under the new NAB law.

This is the second time the PPP co-chairman has filed an acquittal plea in the case. He moved the fresh application through his lawyer Sheeraz Rajpar on the basis of the recent amendments made to the country’s accountability law.

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He challenged the jurisdiction of the NAB court to hear the reference.

Zardari states in his plea that he is being subjected to political victimisation. The national graft buster instituted bogus and baseless cases against him, he added.

The application argues that the reference doesn’t fall within the domain of the accountability court after the promulgation of the National Accountability (NAO) Ordinance, 2021.

He pleads with the court to quash the Toshakhan reference filed by the NAB.

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In September 2020, the court had indicted the former president along with former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani in the case. Zardari is accused of illegally keeping expensive vehicles gifted by various heads of states and other foreign dignitaries instead of depositing them in the Toshakhana.