Ishaq Dar assets case: NBP chief moves IHC to reject NAB reference

ISLAMABAD: National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) President Saeed Ahmed on Monday approached the Islamabad High Court, challenging the March 20 verdict of an accountability court, dismissing his plea for acquittal in a supplementary reference pertaining to the assets case filed against former finance minister Ishaq Dar. 

A two-judge bench, comprising Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, will hear a petition filed by the NBP president challenging the trial court’s decision.

On March 20, Accountability Judge Muhammad Bashir dismissed an application moved by Ahmed calling for quashment of the reference.

Saeed Ahmed moved the application in the court under Section 265-D of the Criminal Procedure Code seeking his acquittal for lack of evidence.

On Feb 26, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed a supplementary reference against Ishaq Dar in the assets case with regard to alleged accumulation of assets beyond his known sources of income.

Three suspects, including Saeed Ahmed, Mansoor Raza and Naeem Mehmood, were nominated in the reference.

In his application, the NBP president argued he came to know in 2016 that as many as seven accounts were being operated in his name. His signatures were faked to open such accounts, he claimed.

A NAB prosecutor argued that millions of rupees were transacted into the foreign currency accounts, which were operated from 1997 to 2006.

He expressed surprise how come the NBP president was not in the know about these accounts opened in his name.