Dar graft charges: Prosecution witness records statement in court

• Witness records statement in assets reference case against Dar
• Anusha Rehman says never seen such a speedy trial

ISLAMABAD: One of the two prosecution witnesses recorded his statement in the accountability court Wednesday in connection with the corruption references that had been filed against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

The hearing into the case started after Dar made a delayed appearance and was instructed by the judge to be punctual on the next hearing.

During the proceedings, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) brought forth Bank Alfalah’s former manager Ishtiaq Ali and Al Baraka Bank’s senior Vice President Tariq Javed to record their statements before the accountability court.

However, only Ishtiaq Ali recorded his statement before the trial court on Wednesday, following which he was cross-examined by Dar’s counsel Khawaja Haris.

Ishtiaq Ali testified before the court that while the accused holds an account with Bank Alfalah, his wife Tabassum Dar owns a security company HDS Securities Private Limited.

Dar, nevertheless, maintained that he had opened an account with the bank in 2005, but had shut it a year later.

Dar’s counsel Khawaja Haris, in his arguments, contended that Ali was not a relevant witness as he was neither a scriber nor a custodian of documents produced by him before the court. He also tried to establish that the witness was not even working for the bank at the time, arguing that he was employed in 2005, while the record submitted before the court pertains to 2001 and 2005.

Dar’s lawyer also rejected the documents presented by the NAB terming them to be mere photocopies lacking verification.

The hearing was then adjourned until October 12, when another witness in the case, Shahid Aziz, a senior official of the National Investment Trust, and Tariq Javed will be recording their statements.

During the previous hearing, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had submitted the names of as many as twenty-eight witnesses.

In comparison to the hearing on October 2, when the Rangers had taken over the security of the judicial complex and barred everyone from entering the judicial complex including the interior minister, the police had complete control of the complex on Wednesday and the paramilitary force was nowhere to be seen.

Eight media personnel had acquired special permission from the court’s registrar to cover today’s courtroom proceedings.

Addressing the media outside the accountability court after Dar’s hearing, IT State Minister Anusha Rehman said that unique judicial precedence is being set in the country with regards to the proceedings against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his family and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

Rehman said it is sad that the honourable judge of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) dismissed on Tuesday Dar’s petition challenging the accountability court order without even issuing notices.

“He directed our lawyers that since the Supreme Court has sent the case to the trial court, any objections must be taken up with the apex court-appointed monitoring judge,” informed Rehman.

She said members of the legal fraternity are baffled on the speed with which the case is progressing. “Nevertheless, Nawaz, his children, and Dar are awaiting justice and will continue to appear in court,” she claimed.

However, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader hoped no new precedence will be set in their cases. Talking about a video doing rounds on social media showing a man in a suit leaving the court premises after Monday’s hearing, she said some suspicious activity has been caught on camera and questions are being raised on the Rangers’ presence in court on Monday when the police and commissioner denied having summoned them.

“What are those powers who took control of the court that day. I don’t know if they’ve left or are still here,” she remarked.

She also chided the NAB for wasting paper, saying the 23-volume reference against the finance minister consists of 11 volumes of the Panama Joint Investigation Team report which contains merely 10 percent material on Dar. “NAB has wasted paper making photocopies of unrelated documents,” she said.

Dar was indicted last week by Accountability Court-I Judge Mohammad Bashir in a corruption reference filed by NAB in the light of the Supreme Court judgment on July 28 regarding the Panama Papers case.  The hearing in the case had been adjourned until Oct 4. Dar has been indicted for having possessed assets beyond known sources of income. However, Dar had denied all such charges, vowing to prove his innocence.

In his petition, Dar had pleaded to be granted a stay on the proceedings before the accountability court on grounds that the petitioner be granted an adequate opportunity to raise an objection to the framing of charge and its contents before calling and recording of the prosecution witnesses. However, the IHC had turned down Dar’s petition on Tuesday.