Asif Ali Zardari decides not to appear before court in Toshakhana reference

ISLAMABAD: Former president Asif Ali Zardari on Friday decided not to appear before accountability court in Toshakhana (national depository) case, ARY News reported.

The former and ex-prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Yousaf Raza Gillani were asked to appear before an accountability court today in Toshakhana (national depository) reference.

The counsel of former president, Asad Abbasi advocate said an exemption plea from the court appearance would be filed in the court.

My client is critically ill and hospitalized, therefore he should be given exemption from court appearance, he added.

The NAB had filed a reference with the accountability court against the former heads of the state for not depositing luxury vehicles and valuable gifts received from the foreign leaders in the treasury.

Read more: NAB files another reference against Nawaz Sharif, Asif Zardari

NAB sources said that former president Asif Ali Zardari had only paid 15 per cent of the total cost of the vehicles received as gifts through fake accounts.

Zardari had received expensive cars as a gift from Libya and the UAE as president but did not deposit it in the Tosha Khana, the sources added.

Nawaz Sharif and Yousaf Raza Gillani had also received cars as a gift from different foreign leaders as prime ministers and used it themselves instead of depositing them in the treasury.

Owners of Omni Group, Khawaja Anwar Majeed and Khawaja Abdul Ghani Majeed were also nominated as accused in the reference.