By ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has cleared former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the Toshakhana case, according to a report presented to the accountability court on Wednesday.
The report supported the court’s authority to clear Sharif, noting that although the Supreme Court had ordered an investigation into a supposedly fake account linked to him, investigators found no evidence that he used this account’s funds to purchase a vehicle from the Toshakhana, or state gift repository.
Media reports indicate that NAB confirmed the vehicle was returned to the Toshakhana in 1997, and when Sharif bought it in 2008, the Toshakhana no longer owned it.
The probe into the Toshakhana case started in March 2020. It accused former Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani of bending rules to help former President Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif get luxury vehicles from the state’s gift repository by easing the gift acceptance rules in 2007.
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In October 2020, the accountability court named Sharif an absconder for not appearing in court regarding the Toshakhana case and ordered his properties confiscated.
NAB stated that Zardari and Sharif kept the vehicles by paying only 15% of their total value, using dishonest and illegal means for personal gain.
The Toshakhana issue has stirred significant controversy in Pakistani politics, especially after the Election Commission of Pakistan disqualified the PTI chief for lying and incorrect declarations. The decision stated that Sharif had committed corrupt practices, with plans to start criminal proceedings against him for submitting a false statement under sections 167 and 173 of the constitution.
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