NAB all set to file Toshakhana reference against Imran

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is all set to file a corruption reference against Imran Khan and others in Toshakhana case.

Informed sources said that the Toshakhana reference is expected to be filed in an accountability court in Islamabad during the current week.

Probe into the matter has been completed and the top management of the Bureau after having consultation with the prosecution side has decided to file corruption reference against Imran Khan in Toshakhana case, disclosed the sources.

This will be the second corruption reference filed by NAB against Khan in the accountability court. A few weeks back, the NAB had filed corruption reference against Imran Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi and others in Al-Qadir Trust case.

Before the NAB’s intervention, Imran Khan had already been twice bitten by the same Toshakhana scandal.

On October 21, 2022, Imran Khan was disqualified from the National Assembly for five years by the Election Commission of Pakistan after he was found guilty of concealing facts about selling expensive gifts.

A four-member bench, headed by Pakistan’s Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja, announced the verdict at the ECP Secretariat in Islamabad, and according to the verdict criminal proceedings were to be initiated against Imran Khan for misdeclaration.

Following its order against Khan, the ECP referred a criminal case against the former prime minister to Islamabad sessions court, which in August this year, had convicted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief in the Toshakhana case and sentenced him to three years.

The Toshakhana controversy arose when Imran Khan, during his tenure as PM, resisted disclosing details of the many presents he received during his time in office on demand from a journalist under Pakistan’s Right to Information (RTI) law.

The request was declined by the government citing concerns that doing so would severely impact relations with other countries. The journalist lodged a complaint with the Federal Information Commission after the Cabinet Division refused to disclose the Toshakhana details of Imran Khan. The commission instructed the Cabinet Division to furnish it as per the RTI. However, the Imran Khan-led government failed to comply with the directive, prompting the requesting party to approach the high court to enforce the Federal Information Commission’s decision but that too was resisted by the PTI government.