Accountability court resumes hearing of Ishaq Dar's graft case today

ISLAMABAD - An accountability court on Friday resumed hearing of a corruption case against former finance minister Ishaq Dar.

Judge Mohammad Bashir is hearing the case filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against the minister for possessing assets beyond the known sources of income in wake of the Panamagate verdict by the Supreme Court.

At the last hearing, the court recorded statements of three prosecution witnesses and it also has summoned more witnesses to record their statements.

Dar is staying in London for medical treatment since October last year, shunning the court proceedings. He has also been declared proclaimed offender by the court.

Hajvery Trust Case

On Jan 24, the NAB court ordered to partially reopen the frozen bank accounts of former finance minister Ishaq Dar's welfare organisation, the Hajvery Trust.

https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/pakistan/accountability-court-reserves-verdict-on-dars-plea-to-reopen-bank-accounts/

IHC Orders

On Wednesday, an IHC division bench comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb dismissed a petition filed by Ishaq Dar against the issuance of his proclamation and initiation of ex parte proceedings by the accountability court.

Proclaimed Offender

The accountability court declared former finance minister Ishaq Dar a proclaimed offender in a corruption case regarding possession of assets beyond means.

Judge Mohammad Bashir had announced the decision after the former finance minister did not attend the court hearings continuously as he is in London for medical treatment. He has skipped the last six hearings of the case.

Indictment

On September 27, the former finance minister had been indicted for possessing assets beyond his known sources of income.

Dar had rejected the allegations levelled by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in its reference prepared following the orders of the Supreme Court in its July 28 verdict in Panamagate case.

NAB Reference

According to the NAB reference, the accused had acquired assets and pecuniary interests/resources in his name or in the name of his dependents of an approximate amount of Rs831.678 million as per the investigation conducted so far.

The assets are disproportionate to his known sources of income for which he could not reasonably account for, the reference said.