Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was indicted by the accountability court hearing the Supreme Court-directed corruption reference against him. Dar denied all charges and vowed to prove his innocence in court. The National Accountability Bureau submitted a list of 28 witnesses, which it will now begin to produce in court at the next hearing on October 4.The court rejected an application filed by Dar requesting exemption from personal attendance in court hearings and said the case would be heard on a day-to-day basis after Muharram holidays.Dar reached the court a little before 9am amid tight security arrangements and faced trouble getting into the court complex owing to the huge crowd. Dar then got back into his vehicle as the gates of the complex were still shut. Police officials feared that if they opened the gates the huge crowd would get into the complex. Later, security officials escorted Dar to the court complex from its rear gate. The media was disallowed from entering the premises, as were lawyers and litigants.
However, a number of lawyers were seen climbing over the gate to enter the complex. Once the charges against the finance minister were read out by Judge Mohammad Bashir, Dar refused to accept the charges. According to sources, Dar vowed in the court that his assets are according to his means, saying he will prove his innocence. Dar’s counsel, Amjad Pervez, pleaded that his client did not receive the notice the court usually issues seven days prior to the indictment, but the judge told him that since his client had not appeared in the first hearing on Sept 19, this could be taken to mean that he was allowed the seven-day notice period. The Finance Minister denied charges leveled by National Accountability Bureau and vowed to defend his position to prove himself innocent. Ishaq Dar has been ordered to ensure his presence during the next hearing.
Accountability Court had summoned Dar for the hearing and a trial will be started against him. The court, in the previous hearing on September 25, had issued the 23 volumes of reference to the finance minister.National Accountability Bureau had submitted reference and other documents comprising 23 volumes against Ishaq Dar in the court during previous hearing. The copies of reference and other documents were also provided to the accused.
Although Finance Minister has denied allegations against him and vowed to contest until proven innocent but his indictment has increased his troubles. Now he is fully focusing on his trail and in these circumstances he cannot give proper attention to the economy. Opposition parties including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan People’s Party are demanding his resignation. Ishaq Dar should resign and contest his trial with full force. Otherwise economy of the country may face dire consequences because of prevailing uncertainty.
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