ISLAMABAD: Prosecution witness Inam Ishaq on Friday recorded his statement in the accountability court hearing the corruption reference against former finance minister Senator Ishaq Dar on Friday.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Dar is accused of possessing assets disproportionate to his declared sources of income. A reference against him was filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in light of the Supreme Court’s July 28 verdict in the Panama Papers case.
During the hearing led by Justice Mohammad Bashir, the witness said that he had provided membership form of Dar’s two kanal plot to NAB and that Dar, his wife and son have one plot each.
The witness told the court that he had also given a letter of society’s president to the NAB. Meanwhile, NAB prosecutor said that supplementary reference against Dar will be filed on Monday.
The court has adjourned the hearing till February 26.
In the last hearing, on February 14, the accountability court was informed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) that it planned to file a supplementary reference in the case.
The prosecution had also requested the court to issue warrants for the production of its last witness, Inamul Haq, as he was not present in the court. The court gave a last warning to Haq to appear in court and adjourned the hearing.
LHC ALLOWS DAR TO CONTEST SENATE ELECTIONS:
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Saturday allowed former finance minister Ishaq Dar to contest the upcoming Senate elections.
An appellate bench of the high court set aside the returning officer’s decision that had rejected his nomination papers for the Senate polls.
The verdict came on an election petition filed by Ishaq Dar in which he challenged the rejection of his nomination papers.
In his petition, Dar submitted through his counsel that the returning officer rejected his nomination papers for the Senate polls despite the fact that he had fulfilled all legal requirements.
He argued that his nomination was rejected without giving him a fair hearing.
Dar’s counsel contended that the returning officer rejected the nomination papers merely on the basis of allegations.
The bench was requested to set aside the returning officer’s decision of rejecting the nomination papers of the former finance minister.
WAJID ZIA’S STATEMENT
During the case’s hearing on February 12, FIA Additional Director Wajid Zia informed the court that the ex-minister Ishaq Dar failed to prove the enormous growth in his assets before the JIT, adding that his assets showed a “91 per cent increase” in just 17 years.
“According to Dar’s wealth statement in 1991, his assets were at Rs9.1 million whereas that the same were Rs831.6 million in his 2008-09 statement, signifying an increase of about Rs822.5 million,” the JIT chief told the court.
NAB REFERENCE:
In its reference against the former 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 dependents 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”.
The court has declared him a proclaimed offender over his perpetual absence from the trial proceedings and attached his movable and immovable properties.
In November 2017, the government withdrew the portfolio of finance minister of Dar.