ISLAMABAD: The accountability court resumed hearing the corruption references case against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar as per schedule on Thursday.
Neither Ishaq Dar or Khawaja Harris are currently present inside the judicial complex and the finance minister is being represented by a secondary counsel Ayesha Hamid who is part of Dar’s legal team.
National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor is present inside the court along with his team and the four witnesses who are all related to several private banks are also present inside the judicial complex.
Khawaja Harris had submitted the finance minister’s medical certificate seeking exemption from today’s hearing stating that Dar is only in London on medical grounds.
NAB argued against court granting Dar an exemption hence the court reserved its decision regarding the exemption plea.
The NAB team pushed for the accountability court’s backing of its order to freeze Dar’s assets but the ministers representative Ayesha Hamid argued that NAB cannot freeze someone’s assets after the reference has been submitted.
Ishaq Dar was also a no-show during the last hearing that took place on October 30, due to which the accountability court issued bailable arrest warrants and also sent a note to the minister’s guarantor Ahmed Ali Quddusi who then submitted a surety bond on the minister’s behalf.
Judge Mohammad Bashir rejected Dar’s plea for exemption from today’s hearing and also rejected NAB prosecutors request for issuance of non-bailable arrest warrants for the minister and decided to extend the validity of the bailable warrants that were issued during the October 30 hearing.
Dar is accused of possessing undeclared assets by NAB.
Dar’s son’s were also expected to appear before the accountability court today on Thursday but they did not show up as well just like their father.
Dar is expected to undergo Angiography in London tommorrow.
