Corruption case: Hearing underway against Ishaq Dar

The court hearing against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, resumed after it had been postponed by Judge Bashir till noon as Dar’s counsel Khawaja Harris, had failed to appear in court on Monday morning.

Once the hearing preceded, Dar’s counsel, Khawaja Harris appealed the Judge to delay the hearing as Dar had to attend a meeting. However the judge rejected his appeal saying that unless someone is ill, no exemption can be given.  Dar’s counsel said that the exemption was only asked for just today’s hearing. Judge Bashir said to proceed on with the hearing and he will decide later.

The hearing is currently underway as Judge Muhammad Bashir is recording the statement of prosecution witness, Masood ul Ghani of the Habib Bank Limited, ARY News reported.

The hearing began Monday morning with Ishaq Dar arriving in court amid tight security, but the judge adjourned the proceedings, as Dar’s lead counsel Khawaja Harris was absent, instructing Dar to appear before the court with his counsel, local media reported.

The corruption case against Ishaq Dar was filed by NAB in light of the Supreme Court's July 28 judgment in the Panama Papers case. During Dar’s last hearing on October 12, NAB had produced two witnesses, Al-Baraka Bank Senior Vice-President Tariq Javed and Shahid Aziz of the National Investment Trust (NIT) who had testified against Dar. The accountability court had then adjourned the hearing for October 16. This will be the fifth appearance of Dar in the accountability court.