Toshakhana case: accountability court suspends Nawaz’s warrant

An accountability court suspended on Thursday Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif’s arrest warrant in the Toshakhana case, Aaj News reported.

Accountability court Judge Muhammad Bashir approved Nawaz’s request for suspension of his arrest warrant in the Toshakhana reference.

During the hearing, the former PM’s counsel Qazi Misbah informed the judge that his client was returning to the country and wanted to appear before the court.

The judge said that the arrest warrant would be restored if the accused did not appear before the court on October 24.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had filed the Toshakhana reference against former president Asif Ali Zardari, Nawaz and Yousuf Raza Gillani, and others for allegedly acquiring three vehicles including a BMW 750 Li model 2004, Toyota Lexus Jeep 472 model 2007 gifted by the embassy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and BMW 760 LI model 2008 gifted by embassy Libya and gifts from Toshakhana-an official treasury where gifts from foreign dignitaries or heads of state are deposited- in violation of rules and regulations.

Zardari and Nawaz, had retained the said vehicles against the nominal payment of 15 percent of the total value of the vehicles.

According to PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif, Nawaz, who has been in self-imposed exile since 2019 in London after being disqualified for life in the Panama Papers case, will return to Pakistan on October 21.

As per sources, Nawaz has booked the air ticket for his return. He is meant to land at Abu Dhabi International Airport on October 21 from where he will fly to Lahore the same day.

His flight will land at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport at 6:25pm.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the former PM approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking protective bail in Al-Azizia and Avenfield references.

The petitions were filed by PML-N’s Ataullah Tarar on Nawaz’s behalf. In the pleas, Nawaz said that he was seeking protective bail in order to surrender before the court on his return to Pakistan.

The pleas said that although the PML-N supremo had not fully recovered, he had decided to come back to Pakistan at a time when the country was faced with the “worst-ever crises of economy and other fronts”.

Nawaz’s counsel, Amjad Pervez informed the court that his client was seeking protective bail and gave reference of previous judgments and added that in the past, absconders were granted protective bail in order to surrender before the court.

The three-time former prime minister was declared a proclaimed offender by the IHC in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia cases over non-compliance after he went to London for medical treatment with the court’s permission in November 2019.