Court declares Ishaq Dar absconder in assets reference

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Tuesday granted a request by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to initiate proceedings to declare Finance Minister Ishaq Dar as a proclaimed offender in the assets reference filed against him.

Dar, who is currently in London, skipped the today’s hearing despite issuance of non-bailable warrants for his arrest. He has been accused of accumulating wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Judge Muhammad Bashir declared the finance minister as an absconder and directed the NAB to take steps to declare him as a proclaimed offender over his perpetual absence from the corruption trial proceedings.

Investigation Officer Nadir Abbas submitted a compliance report, stating that he visited the minister’s Lahore and Islamabad residences to execute non-bailable warrants, but he remained elusive.

The judge issued a show cause notice to Dar’s guarantor to explain his failure to present the absconding accused in the court.

At the outset, Advocate Hussain Mufti, the counsel for the minister, submitted his client’s medical report, informing the judge that he is to undergo a medical check-up on November 27 and the doctors have barred him from travelling.

NAB prosecutor Imran Shafiq pointed out some discrepancies in two medical reports submitted in the court, saying the first one claimed that a blood vessel leading to the ailing minister’s heart had ruptured and he had a history of the illness, but the latest report claimed otherwise.

As per the second report, Dar was experiencing certain symptoms and would undergo a series of tests to diagnose the disease, he added.

He informed the court that the accountability bureau has approached the foreign ministry for verification of the medical reports.

Meanwhile, the prosecutor requested the court to initiate proceedings to declare Ishaq Dar as a proclaimed offender over his perpetual absence from the hearing.

Last week, the NAB recommended placing Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s name on the Exit Control List (ECL) after issuance of non-bailable warrants for his arrest.