The Supreme Court was informed on Tuesday that a request has been sent to the UK Central Authority through the Foreign Office for extradition of former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, heard the case regarding illegal appointment of former managing director of Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV), Attaul Haq Qasmi.
The Chief Justice asked what has happened about the recoveries to be made from Qasmi, former Information Minister Pervez Rasheed and the former Principal Secretary to PM Fawad Hassan Fawad, which they have directed in the judgement. The NAB counsel replied notices have been sent to them.
At the onset of the hearing, the NAB counsel Jehanzeb Bharwana told the court that questionnaire has been sent to the UK authority for extradition of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader. He said extradition was in the process while Dar's properties had been sealed.
Justice Ijazul Ahsan remarked that for the last two months they have been hearing that the request is made to the UK authority, but no further progress is made. "I think the Foreign Office has not used its good office for the extradition of Ishaq Dar."
The counsel said the Bureau has replied to British government's letter in the matter and is awaiting its response.
An accountability court had ordered the authorities to auction Dar's movable and immovable assets and seize his bank accounts as he has not only failed to appear before the court, as over six months have passed since the court attached his assets. The court issued the order in October 2018 on an application of the anti-graft watchdog seeking the sale of Dar's assets and asking the court to appoint a 'receiver' who would collect and deposit the amount in the state treasury.