NAB to file supplementary reference against Ishaq Dar on Feb 26

ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor on Friday informed the accountability court that the graft body intends to file a supplementary reference against former finance minister Ishaq Dar.

Accountability Court Judge Mohammad Bashir resumed hearing of the graft reference filed in compliance with the Supreme Court’s landmark July 28 verdict.

At the outset of court proceedings, NAB prosecutor presented his arguments and said that the prosecution would file a supplementary reference against the accused on Monday (February 26).

Moreover, he pleaded with the judge to grant the prosecution additional time to record the statement of the investigation officer.

He said an approval to file supplementary references had also been granted.

On the occasion, last prosecution witness Inamul Haq documented his statement before the court and provided the property details of Dar’s wife and son.

Haq told informed the court that the accused purchased three plots of two kanals during 2004 to 2009.

The court then adjourned the hearing till February 26.

According to the NAB reference, Dar 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.

Wajid Zia’s statement

Wajid Zia, head of the Supreme Court-appointed JIT to probe the Sharif family’s wealth, appeared before the accountability court to record his statement in the assets reference filed against former finance minister Ishaq Dar.

The court recorded the statement of the JIT head, who has been named as a witness in the case.

Wajid Zia submitted the Volume I and IX of the JIT report to the judge.

He informed the court that the former finance minister’s assets were around Rs 9.1 million in 1999 as per his wealth statement, which increased to Rs831.6 million in 2008-09.

He stated that Dar failed to provide any proof to the JIT to justify how his assets multiplied by leaps and bounds in a decade.

The former finance minister had been declared a proclaimed offender over his perpetual absence from the trial proceedings.

Earlier, the IHC had permitted the accountability court to resume ex parte proceedings against Ishaq Dar after discarding his plea to suspend his declaration as proclaimed offender by the accountability court in the graft reference.