Zardari, Gilani indicted in Toshakhana case

ISLAMABAD:

An anti-graft court on Wednesday indicted former president Asif Ali Zardari and ex-prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in the Toshakhana (gift depository) and also declared former premier Nawaz Sharif a proclaimed offender in the same matter.

Judge Asghar Ali of the accountability court in Islamabad also framed charges against Omni Group chairman Anwar Majeed and his son, Abdul Ghani Majeed.

Zardari and Sharif have been accused by the country’s top anti-corruption body of illegally retaining expensive vehicles gifted to them by different foreign states and dignitaries instead of depositing them in the Toshakhana.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has also maintained that Gilani, during his tenure as the prime minister, facilitated the PPP co-chairman in retaining the vehicles.

According to the anti-corruption body, Zardari and Sharif retained the vehicles “against a nominal payment of 15% of their total value” through “dishonest and illegal means for their personal benefit and interest”.

Zardari, Gilani and the father and son duo of the Omni group pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Sharif was declared a proclaimed offender by the judge after his case was separated from that of the other suspects.

The court sought the details of the PML-N supreme leader’s movable and immovable properties within seven days.

It also issued directions that the process of the Sharif’s arrest and subsequent appearance before the court be clarified.

The judge warned that the former premier's properties would be frozen if he failed to appear before the court.

Objecting to the indictment, Gilani told the court that he had never carried out any action against the rules.

"Only a summary [for allowing the retention of vehicles] that came according to the law was approved. Had the summary been wrong, it would not have been moved," he maintained.

The accountability court judge told him that action would be taken as per law.

"We are not yet discussing the merits of the case, or how the summary was moved and approved. You have to tell this to the court during the trial," he added.

The former premier also argued that NAB had prepared the reference without going through the rules of business.

The court adjourned the hearing till September 24 after ordering NAB to present its witnesses, Waqar-ul-Hassan Shah, Zubair Siddiqui and Imran Zafar.

Earlier, the court had endorsed NAB’s decision to seize two BMWs and a Lexus from Zardari and a Mercedes from Sharif.

According to the bureau, Zardari had received expensive cars as a gift from Libya and the UAE when he was the president of the country but illegally retained them instead of depositing them in the Toshakhana.