ISLAMABAD: Former president Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday moved an application before an Islamabad accountability court seeking permanent exemption from personal appearance during the trial in the Toshakhana case.

He filed the plea through his lawyer Farooq H Naek, requesting the court to allow his representative to appear in court on his behalf due to security concerns.

Zardari, ex-PM Nawaz Sharif and former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani are named in the Toshakhana reference for allegedly obtaining luxury vehicles from the treasury by paying 15 per cent of the actual price.

On September 24, the court had started recording statements of witnesses in the Toshakhana case.

Witness Imran Zafar, a former deputy director of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), recorded his statement saying he received a letter from the corruption watchdog on February 7, 2019, which sought details about the assets of Zardari and the nomination paper he had filed in 2008.

On September 9, the court declared Nawaz Sharif a proclaimed offender over perpetual absence and indicted Asif Ali Zardari and Yousuf Raza Gillani who denied charges.