Court returns Toshakhana reference against Zardari, Nawaz and Gilani to NAB

An accountability court on Wednesday sent back a reference against former president Asif Ali Zardari, ex-premiers Nawaz Sharif and Yousuf Raza Gilani to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) under the recently tweaked NAB law.
The reference was sent back as the charge on the accused was for Rs110 million, whereas after the amendments made to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 2000 by the coalition government, a NAB case is made on a charge of Rs500 million.
During the hearing, the accountability court Judge Muhammad Bashir issued orders to send the reference to the relevant forum under the NAB Amendment Ordinance.
It is pertinent to note that following the completion of the accountability court judge Asghar Ali’s term, Muhammad Bashir heard the reference as an administrative judge.
In May this year, just weeks after coming to power, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led coalition government got the National Accountability (Second Amendment) Bill 2021 approved by the National Assembly as well as the Senate.
However, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan challenged the amendments to the NAO 1999 in the Supreme Court (SC) through a constitutional petition filed under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution on June 25, arguing that the tweaks would pave the way for public office holders to get away with white-collar crimes.