IHC grants stay on property confiscation order against Dar’s guarantor

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ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday granted a 24-hour stay on the accountability court’s judgement of confiscating properties of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Ishaq Dar’s guarantor.

The accountability court on Monday had directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to submit its report pertaining to confiscation of properties of Dar and his guarantor, Ahmed Ali Qadoosi.

Earlier, the court had also issued a final warning to the guarantor of the former finance minister to produce him in court or forfeit surety bonds worth Rs5 million.

During the proceedings, the IHC granted a 24-hour stay on the anti-graft court’s order while hearing the petition filed by Ahmed Ali Qadoosi against the judgement.

Meanwhile, Dar has also moved the IHC against the accountability court’s issuance of non-bailable arrest warrants against him and an order declaring him a proclaimed offender.

The IHC will hear Dar’s petitions on Wednesday, December 20.

The accountability court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Dar on Nov 14 in connection with the NAB references filed against the senator on charges of having assets beyond his known sources of income.

The PML-N leader is currently receiving medical treatment in London.

According to a notification issued by the accountability department, Dar is suffering from no such ailment that cannot be treated in Pakistan.

On July 28, a five-member Supreme Court bench had ordered NAB to file three references against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and one against Dar, on petitions filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Imran Khan, Jamaat-e-Islami’s Sirajul Haq and Awami Muslim League’s Sheikh Rashid Ahmed.

In its reference against the finance minister, NAB alleged that “the accused has acquired assets and pecuniary interests/resources in his own name and/or in the name of his dependants of an approximate amount of Rs831.678 million (approx)”.

The reference alleged that the assets were “disproportionate to his known sources of income for which he could not reasonably account for”.