Ishaq Dar gets breathing space as UK rejects deportation plea

LONDON - A British parliamentary team has rejected an online petition seeking a parliamentary debate on the issue of extradition of former Pakistani finance minister Ishaq Dar, terming its contents  ‘libellous’.

The petition lodged by a UK-based activist about a month ago has so far gathered around 82,000 signatures and under the British laws, an individual or a group can highlight an issue of public importance through a lobby petition and once the petition gets over 100,000 signatures, the issue involved is debated in the House of Commons, the lower house of British legislature.

However, despite having over 82,000 signatures, Britishers have rejected debating the subject.

“We rejected the petition you supported — “Deport absconder Pakistan’s Ex-Finance Minister Ishaq Dar back to Pakistan,” stated the body in an email on Friday.

“It included confidential, libellous, false or defamatory information or a reference to a case which is active in the UK courts,” it added.

https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/cjp-nisar-directs-measures-to-bring-back-ishaq-dar-in-ten-days/

“In any case, we can’t accept your petition because we’re not sure exactly what you’d like the UK Government or Parliament to do,” it added.

The response mentioned that extradition is possible only on the request of a government and that too if the individual in question is convicted of a crime.

“We think you would like the UK Government to extradite Ishaq Dar to Pakistan. The UK has no formal extradition treaty with Pakistan. Section 194 of the Extradition Act 2003 does allow special extradition arrangements in exceptional circumstances. However, under current law, an extradition process is initiated at the request of the government of the country in which the individual has been convicted of a crime. It would, therefore, be the Pakistani Gover­nment’s responsibility to initiate such proceedings,” the reply further stated.

The team also highlighted the standards of the petition and said that all the petitions must call for a specific action from the UK government or the House of Commons and must be about something that the government or the House of Commons is responsible for.

The team said the petitions are rejected if they don’t meet the set standards.

“If we reject your petition, we’ll tell you why. If we can, we’ll suggest other ways you could raise your issue,” it added.

“We publish the text of petitions that we reject, as long as they’re not: defamatory, libellous or illegal in another way; about a case that is active in the UK courts or about something that a court has issued an injunction over,” it concluded in the reply sent to more than 80,000 signatories of the petition.

According to media reports, the petitions committee said it reviewed the online petition but rejected it on technical and legal grounds.

Former finance minister Dar presently resides in the UK without a passport after his diplomatic passport was cancelled a few days back.

Pakistan’s supreme court is also pressing the concerned departments to bring Dar back against whom a corruption reference has been filed by the National Accountability Bureau for having assets beyond means.