ISLAMABAD – The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday dismissed a second application filed by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar against his indictment by an accountability court in a corruption reference filed by national Accountability Bureau.
A two-judge division bench, comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb announced the verdict reserved on the petition on October 11 after completion of arguments.
The minister’s lawyer Advocate Abdul Rehman said that a petition would be filed in the Supreme Court against the high court’s decision.
“Islamabad High Court did not even hear our stance,” said Advocate Abdul Rehman, adding that it was Dar’s constitutional right that constitutional obligations be fulfilled.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was indicted by the accountability court last month in a reference pertaining to ownership of ‘assets beyond his known sources of income’.
Earlier this month, the IHC had rejected Dar’s first application challenging his ‘swift indictment’ by the accountability court in the assets reference.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/ihc-scraps-ishaq-dars-pleas-against-indictment-over-corruption/
The petition submitted by Dar’s counsel, Khawaja Harris, pleaded that the accountability court had not granted him a minimum period of seven days to peruse the material that the accountability court had handed him two days before his indictment.
The national graft-buster filed three references against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his children and one against Dar on the directions of the Supreme Court in its Panama Papers case verdict.
Moreover, the accountability watchdog also froze assets and properties, both moveable and immoveable, of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, his family members, dependents and and benamidars.
According to NAB officials, NAB Chairman former Justice Javed Iqbal had earlier issued an order to freeze properties and assets of Dar. Under the law, the NAB chairman is fully authorized to issue such orders but it is mandatory for NAB to file application in the light of the order of its chairman in the court for implementation on it.
