Court reserves judgment on NAB's plea seeking to declare Ishaq Dar as PO

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court (AC) of Islamabad Monday reserved its judgment on the National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) request seeking to declare Finance Minister Ishaq Dar a proclaimed offender for not appearing before it in a reference related to allegedly possessing assets beyond known sources of income.

The court is likely to announce its judgment on December 11.

AC Judge Muhammad Bashir resumed hearing of the reference filed by NAB against Ishaq Dar in compliance with the Supreme Court's order in the Panama Papers case.

NAB Investigation Officer Nadir Abbas submitted the implementation report regarding the process to declare Ishaq Dar a proclaimed offender.

The summon notices were displayed at the court’s notice board and outside Dar's two residences at Gulberg, Lahore and Minister's Colony, Islamabad.

Earlier, Dar’s counsel Qosain Mufti submitted a fresh medical report of his client and contended that Ishaq Dar would undergo an MRI test next week. Judge Muhammad Bashir remarked that the court could establish a medical board, if Dar was in the country.

The accused had not appeared before the court for more than a month, he added.

Qosain Mufti said if the court desired, Pakistan’s High Commission in Britain could arrange medical examination of his client. The court could issue directives in that regard, he added.

His client had not gone in hiding, he argued.

Mufti contended that the NAB had not got verified the medical reports of his client from abroad and requested the court to grant more time to Ishaq Dar to appear before it.

However, the NAB prosecutor questioned as to why Ishaq Dar went abroad if his disease was not diagnosed.

Dar was deliberately not appearing before the court, he added.

The prosecutor said the angiography report of the accused had not been submitted to the court so far. The defence side should inform the court about the nature of Dar's ailment, he added.

He requested the court to declare Ishaq Dar a proclaimed offender for non-appearance.

After hearing the arguments from both sides, the court reserved its judgment regarding the matter.