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The case is related to receiving luxury vehicles and gifts from the Toshakhana.

Established in 1974, Toshakhana is a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division and stores precious gifts given to rulers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats and officials by heads of other governments, states and foreign dignitaries as a goodwill gesture.

Under the rules, it is mandatory that gifts of a certain value are deposited in Toshakhana. However, an official is also allowed to keep these gifts provided he pays a certain percentage of the price assessed by the Toshakhana evaluation committee.

The reference states that PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz obt­ained cars from Tosha­khana by paying 15pc of the price of the cars. NAB had further alleged that former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani had facilitated the two. He dishonestly and illegally relaxed the procedure for the acceptance and disposal of gifts, issued by the government of Pakistan vide Cabinet Division’s Memorandum No.9/8/2004-TK dated June 25, 2007, which expressly stipulates that vehicles shall not be allowed to be purchased by the recipients and be given to the central pool of care of the Cabinet Division.

The NAB reference alleges that Nawaz did not hold any public office in the year 2008. However, from April to December 2008 without giving any application or request to then prime minister Gillani, Nawaz dishonestly and illegally obtained relaxation for his benefits of procedure for the vide Cabinet Division’s above said Memorandum which expressly stipulates that vehicles shall not be allowed to be purchased by the recipients and be given to the central pool of cars of the Cabinet Division. “Nawaz Sharif knowingly and with dishonest intention obtained illegal favour in connivance with the then prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani by obtaining the relaxation of said procedure for the acceptance and disposal of gifts,” the reference states.

The accountability court-III of Islamabad had issued Nawaz’s non-bailable warrants for not attending the court’s proceeding in the reference and had also initiated the process to declare him a proclaimed offender in June 2020.

An accountability court had declared him a proclaimed offender in September 2020, initiated the process to confiscate his properties and directed NAB) to make his arrest through Interpol. In October 2020, an accountability court had ordered authorities to seize Nawaz’s assets.

However, Nawaz got the first benefit from last year’s amendment in the accountability law when an accountability court had returned the Toshakhana reference to the anti-graft watchdog.

The reference was returned by the accountability court to the NAB chairman citing a lack of jurisdiction because of the National Accountability (2nd amendment) Act, 2022, which set a Rs500m threshold to make it triable as an NAB case.

The case has been reopened, however, in the wake of the apex court’s judgement last month on the NAB amendments and proceedings against Nawaz will start upon his surrender.


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