NP newsroom
ISLAMABAD: An accountability court in this capital city of Pakistan on Thursday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for PML-N leader and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the Toshakhana (Gift Depository) reference, according to Pakistan’s largest and most widely viewed Geo Television Network’s Geo News.
The channel reported that Nawaz Sharif, former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and former president Asif Ali Zardari were summoned to a hearing on the Toshakhana Reference today (Thursday).
National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Prosecutor Muzaffar Abbasi asked the court to issue the arrest warrant, saying that since he was abroad, advertisements against the PML-N leader could be published in foreign newspapers.
The hearing today was attended by Gilani and suspect Abdul Majid Ghani, while Zardari’s application exempting him from appearing before the court today was accepted.
The court, while exempting Zardari from attending proceedings today, ordered that another notice for appearance be sent to the former president.
According to NAB, Zardari and Nawaz received cars from former prime minister Gilani illegally.
The anti-graft body alleged that Abdul Ghani Majeed paid for the vehicles through fake accounts whereas Anwar Majeed made more than PKR 20 million through illegal transactions using the Ansari Sugar Mills accounts.
The report in Geo News records that Pakistani law determines that gifts to the Pakistani head of the state or head of government from any country or foreign leader, remain the property of the Pakistani government, to be deposited in the Gift Depository, unless sold at open auction.
Rules allow officials to retain gifts with a market value of less than PKR 10,000 without paying anything.
