Toshakhana reference: Zardari to appear before NAB court today

ISLAMABAD: Former president Asif Ali Zardari decided on Sunday to appear before an accountability court in Toshakhana (treasure-house) case. The accountability court has summoned the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader to appear before it on Monday (today). According to sources, Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur will reach Islamabad from Karachi on Monday as the PPP has decided to show its political muscle during the hearing of the case. The party leadership has also directed its members of the Parliament and Peoples Lawyers Forum to reach Islamabad on the day.

The court has issued warrants for Zardari in the Toshakhana accountability reference. Former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani has been granted exemption from appearance in the hearing of the reference.

Meanwhile, former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif on Saturday challenged his summoning by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the Toshakhana reference in the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

The NAB had filed a reference with the accountability court against the former heads of the state and governments for not depositing luxury vehicles and valuable gifts received from foreign leaders in the treasury. Zardari had received expensive cars as a gift from Libya and the UAE as president but he did not deposit the same in the Toshakhana, the sources added.

According to the reference, Zardari and Sharif obtained cars from the Toshakhana by paying 15 per cent of the price of the cars. The bureau further alleged that Gillani facilitated Zardari and Sharif in this regard.