Toshakhana reference: Nawaz Sharif files plea against declaring him fugitive

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has filed a plea with the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against an accountability court for declaring him a fugitive in Toshakhana reference.

A division bench of the Islamabad High court – comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Aamir Farooq – will hear the case on Monday. Earlier, Nawaz Sharif had challenged his summoning by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the Toshakhana reference in the Islamabad High Court (IHC). Nawaz has requested the court to nullify the accountability court’s decision to advertise his summons in the case and continue his trial through a representative.

Nawaz argued that he was not a fugitive and had gone abroad for medical treatment after obtaining bail from the court.

In his petition, Nawaz said the NAB was targeting the opposition to silence its voice adding that the European Union (EU) and the Human Rights Watch (HRW) had declared the NAB actions illegal.

It is pertinent to mention that the NAB had earlier seized vehicles – taken from Toshakhana of Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Ali Zardari.

The NAB had frozen the ownership of Asif Zardari’s three vehicles, including two BMWs and one Lexus car, and one Mercedes owned by Nawaz Sharif.