Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Thursday gave relief to the former president and PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari in Toshakana reference and exempted him from appearance from the court proceedings.
During a hearing of Toshakhana reference against Asif Zardari and former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, NAB prosecutor Waseem Javed and Zardari’s counsel Barrister Sheeraz appeared before the court.
The court approved the exemption plea of Asif Ali Zardari from the court appearance in the Toshakhana reference and adjourned the hearing for March 14. The cross-examination of NAB witness Shakeel Anwar was delayed during the proceeding owing to the absence of Farooq H. Naek.
In September 2020, the court had indicted the former president along with former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani in the case. Zardari is accused of illegally keeping expensive vehicles gifted by various heads of states and other foreign dignitaries instead of depositing them in the Toshakhana.
In November 2021, the former president filed a fresh plea in the accountability court of Islamabad seeking his acquittal in the Toshakhana (gift depository) reference under the new NAB law.
This is the second time the PPP co-chairman has filed an acquittal plea in the case. He moved the fresh application through his lawyer Sheeraz Rajpar on the basis of the recent amendments made to the country’s accountability law.
He challenged the jurisdiction of the NAB court to hear the reference.
Zardari states in his plea that he is being subjected to political victimisation. The national graft buster instituted bogus and baseless cases against him, he added.
