NAB gives Nawaz Sharif the clean sheet in the Toshakhana case

Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), was cleared by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Wednesday over the Toshakhana car issue.

In its findings, the anti-graft commission asked an accountability court in Islamabad to find the former premier not guilty. The PML-N leader’s inclusion in the probe was mandated by the court to NAB.

The watchdog said in its report presented before the court today that Nawaz Sharif could be cleared of any wrongdoing in relation to the Toshakhana issue. It emphasized that the automobile in question was not part of the Toshakhana when the former prime minister purchased it.

The anti-corruption body’s conclusions state that in 1997, Nawaz, the prime minister at the time, received an automobile as a gift from the Saudi government, which he kept at Toshakhana.

The report stated that Yusuf Raza Gilani, the then-premier, made an offer to purchase the identical automobile for the PML-N supremo later in 2008.

Consequently, the study stated that Nawaz acquired the automobile from the federal transport pool rather than the Toshakhana and that no fraudulent bank account was used to make the transaction.

This comes almost one month after the NAB asked the Islamabad corruption court for a temporary injunction to submit the report in the Toshakhana case, which involves President Asif Ali Zardari, former premiers Nawaz and Gilani, and other individuals.

Accountability court Judge Nasir Javed Rana presided over the NAB’s previous session on March 19. NAB prosecutor Azhar Maqbool stated that the commission has included former prime minister Nawaz in the investigation at his request.

He did, however, note that the NAB’s investigating officials are unavailable for the hearing. As a result, he asked the court to grant him time to submit the report and present his case during the subsequent hearing.

According to Maqbool, the report would be delivered after the inquiry and the decision of whether or not to pursue legal action.

In the meanwhile, Farooq H. Naek, the president Asif Ali Zardari’s attorney, said that his client had been granted amnesty after winning the presidency.

It is thus not possible to prosecute the case against him.

Recall that the NAB had sent the past heads of state to the accountability court for failing to deposit expensive cars and priceless presents from foreign dignitaries in the treasury.

According to sources close to the anti-graft commission, Zardari merely paid fifteen percent of the total cost of the cars he got as presents through fictitious accounts.

According to the reports, the president did not return the luxurious automobiles he got as a gift from Libya and the United Arab Emirates to the Toshakhana.

As prime ministers, Nawaz and Gilani had both accepted automobiles as presents from foreign dignitaries, which they had kept for themselves rather than putting them in the national coffers.