NAB gives clean chit to Nawaz Sharif in Toshakhana reference

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Wednesday gave a clean chit to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the investigation regarding Toshakhana reference, ARY News reported.

As per details, the accountability bureau submitted report regarding the Toshakhana reference to the Accountability Court (AC).

The NAB investigation report stated that Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif did not pay the amount via a fake account to buy the vehicle from Toshakhana.

The report informed the court that vehicle was surrendered to Toshakhana in 1997 and it was not owned by Toshakhana when Nawaz bought it in 2008.

Moreover, the accountability court holds the authority to acquit former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the Toshakhana reference, the bureau report stated.

It is pertinent to mention here that in January 2020, the members of the executive board in a meeting chaired by the then NAB chairman Justice Retd Javed Iqbal approved three references against former premiers, Nawaz Sharif and Yousaf Raza Gillani, and ex-president Asif Ali Zardari over the charges.

A reference was also filed against Anwar Majeed and Abdul Ghani Majeed for paying the taxes of the luxury vehicles imported via Toshakhana.

The reference said that the former president kept the luxury vehicles given as gifts from the UAE and Libya instead of handing them over to Toshakhana and paid their tax amounts using fake bank accounts.

It said that former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani gave undue favour to the president and Nawaz Sharif during his tenure also allowed to hand over the vehicles to Asif Zardari.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Toshakhana issue became a major sticking point in national politics after the Election Commission of Pakistan disqualified the PTI chief for making “false statements and incorrect declaration”.

The judgment added that the former premier was found to be indulged in corrupt practices under sections 167 and 173 of the constitution. “A criminal proceeding will be initiated against him over filing a false statement.”