ISLAMABAD Dec 14 (TNS): An accountability court on Thursday resumed hearing a corruption reference against former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar at the Federal Judicial Complex.
Judge Muhammad Bashir is conducting trial procedures.
The court had earlier summoned two National Accountability Bureau (NAB) witnesses Azeem Khan, a manager at a private bank, and Faisal Shehzad, a Lahore-based banker while re-summoned Abdul Rehman Gondal.
At the outset of the proceedings today, the prosecution witness Abdul Rehman testified against Dar and provided the court with 12-year income records of the former finance minister- from 2005 to 2017 .
The NAB’s prosecution team has submitted a list of as many as 28 witnesses in the case, and only five of them have documented their records before the court so far.
Earlier this week, the court had declared former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar a proclaimed offender in a corruption reference filed against him by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in compliance with Supreme Court’s landmark July 28 verdict.
At the outset of last hearing, Ishaq Dar’s lawyer submitted a plea to seek delay in declaration of his client as a proclaimed offender along with a fresh medical report.
The counsel argued that his client was suffering from coronary artery disease and undergoing a treatment abroad, hence he could not attend the court proceedings.
NAB prosecutor Imran Shafique opposed the plea and asked the court to declare Dar a proclaimed offender for his perpetual absence.
Judge Muhammad Bashir then reserved a judgment on the plea submitted by Dar’s lawyer.
Later, he announced the verdict declaring Dar a proclaimed offender for his perpetual absence during the court proceedings.
The court also directed Dar’s bail guarantor Ahmad Ali Qudoosi to submit surety bail worth Rs5 million within three days.
Previously, the court had issued non-bailable arrest warrants for him on November 14 and subsequently declared him an absconder on November 21.
According to the NAB reference, the accused had acquired assets and pecuniary interests/resources in his name or in the name of his dependents of an approximate amount of Rs831.678 million as per the investigation conducted so far.
The assets are disproportionate to his known sources of income for which he could not reasonably account for.
