ISLAMABAD: The accountability court will charge Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on September 27 in NAB references filed against him on the orders of Supreme Court as per the Panama Case verdict.
The ruling came today when he appeared before the court soon after reaching from London. On the last hearing, the judge had issued arrest warrants of Dar as he failed to appear in a corruption reference regarding his assets beyond known sources of income with 91 times increase in wealth.
Earlier this month, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had issued a bailable arrest warrant against the finance minister, after he failed to comply with summons issued earlier by the same court.
NAB also seized the bank accounts and properties of Dar as the court initiated proceedings against him in a corruption reference. The court had warned that non-bailable arrest warrants will be issued on Sep 25, if Dar fails to appear before the court.
The reference filed by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on the directives of the apex court against Ishaq Dar is related to possession of assets beyond his known sources of income.
The Lahore NAB wrote to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), reminding the banking regulator that since a reference was pending against Dar, “the bank accounts of Ishaq Dar, Federal Minister, may be cautionedâ€.
The bureau, however, left room for transactions from these accounts, as NAB had made them subject to the orders of the accountability court.
NAB has also written to district governments, asking them to stop any transfer or disposal of the properties owned by Dar, warning that in case of non-compliance, they could face up to three years in prison under the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999.
In addition, a NAB team visited the minister’s residence in the capital on Wednesday to execute his arrest warrants. “Since Dar is already abroad, the officials handed over the warrants along with the court summons to his staff,†said a statement from the bureau.
During the earlier hearing, Dar’s protocol officer Fazal Dad had appeared on behalf of the minister and apprised the court that Dar was unable to appear before the court due to his personal engagements as the minister was out of the country. The protocol officer, however, was unaware of the date of Dar’s return.
On this, NAB Prosecutor Sardar Muzaffar appealed the court to issue arrest warrants of the accused.
Subsequently, the judge of the accountability court Mohammad Bashir issued a bailable arrest warrant for Dar, directing the authorities to arrest and produces the minister on September 25.
