- Court approves two-day exemption plea of NBP president
ISLAMABAD: The accountability court hearing the illegal assets case against Senator Ishaq Dar has yet to indict the co-accused, and the case has been adjourned till March 30.
The accused include National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) President Saeed Ahmed, Naeem Mehmood and Mansoor Rizvi.
The three have been accused in the supplementary reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against the former finance minister, who has been absconding in the case since October last year.
The court also approved two-day exemption plea of the NBP chief.
As Accountability Judge Muhammad Bashir resumed hearing the case on Wednesday, two co-accused Mansoor Raza and Naeem Mehmood appeared before the court, however, Saeed Ahmad remained absent. The three were to be indicted during Wednesday’s proceedings.
Saeed Ahmad’s lawyer Hashmat Habib requested the court to grant his client exemption from personal appearance.
The NAB prosecutor opposed the appeal saying that the hearing date has been fixed six times to indict the accused, therefore, the two suspects present in the court should at least be indicted.
Habib adopted stance that no matter how many the dates are, the verdict of high court should be awaited. “My nephew’s marriage is on next Monday and I cannot appear in court before that,” he added.
“The Supreme Court has issued orders to wrap up the case in three months,” remarked the judge.
“The speed with which the NAB prosecutor is going, he will finish the case in one week. The court should show some mercy,” said the lawyer.
The judge maintained that Saeed Ahmad is a healthy person and must appear before the court on Friday.
The court while adjourning the hearing till March 30 directed the accused to submit surety bonds worth Rs10 lac on Friday.