ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday rejected a second application filed by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar against his indictment by an accountability court in an illegal assets reference last month.
A two-judge division bench, comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, had reserved the verdict on the petition on October 11 after completion of arguments.
Dar’s lawyer said that he would approach the Supreme Court against the high court’s decision. “The court did not even hear our stance,” claimed Advocate Abdul Rehman.
Earlier this month, the IHC had rejected Dar’s first application challenging his ‘swift indictment’ by the accountability court in the assets reference.
The petition submitted by Dar’s counsel, Khawaja Harris, had maintained that the accountability court had not granted him a minimum period of seven days to peruse the material that the accountability court had handed him two days before his indictment.
On Sept 8, NAB filed three references against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his children and one against Dar on the directions of the SC.
On September 18, NAB Lahore wrote to the State Bank of Pakistan to remind them that since a reference was pending against him, “the bank accounts of Dar may be cautioned”.
The bureau, however, left room for transactions from these accounts, as NAB has made this subject to the orders of the accountability court.
NAB had also written to district governments, asking them to stop any transfer or disposal of the properties owned by Dar, warning that in case of non-compliance, they could face up to three years in prison under the National Accountability Ordinance.
