Toshakhana case: Apparently Nawaz has become an absconder, says IHC

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Monday questioned bail to former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and also asked about the status of cases against him.

A divisional bench of the court – comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Aamir Farooq – heard Nawaz Sharif’s plea against declaring him an absconder in the Toshakhana case.

Nawaz Sharif’s lawyer told the court that his client’s bail was still applicable and that he was not having a copy of the Punjab government’s order on the matter at this moment. Justice Aamir Farooq remarked that the bail granted to Nawaz Sharif by the IHC was ineffective now after which, apparently, he had become an absconder.

Earlier, Nawaz Sharif had challenged his summoning by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the Toshakhana reference in IHC, stating that he was not a fugitive and went abroad for medical treatment after obtaining bail from thecourt. He had requested the court to nullify the accountability court’s decision to advertise his summons in the case and continue his trial through a representative. He further maintained that the NAB was targeting the opposition to silent its voice.

Previously, the accountability court had also issued non-bailable arrest warrant for Nawaz and former president Asif Ali Zardari over their continuous absence in Toshakhana case. The NAB had alleged Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif for getting cars from former PM Yousuf Raza Gilani through illegal ways.

According to NAB, Zardari had only paid 15 percent cost of the cars by using his fake accounts. Libya and United Arab Emirates (UAE) also gifted him cars when he was president and he used them cars for his personal work instead of submitting them to the Toshakhana. Nawaz Sharif got car without any application in 2008 when he was not holding any public office.