Former finance minister Ishaq Dar’s counsel on Monday told the Supreme Court (SC) that Dar is suffering from a spinal issue in his neck which has been causing him pains in left arm and chest, and a surgery may be required if his condition does not improve within a month.
Dar’s counsel submitted the medical report to the SC – issued by the London Neurosurgery Partnership and dated April 26 –after he was asked to appear before the top court. The report also stated that Dar had cardiac issues and had to undergo an emergency stent implant in the past.
According to the report, signed off by Consultant Neurosurgeon Richard Gullan, an MRI had shown “quite bad spondylitic change” in Dar’s neck after he started experiencing “quite unpleasant left arm and chest pain symptoms”.
“At this point in time he is probably getting to the stage where one may need to consider surgical options more seriously,” the report says.
Doctors have recommended that the absconding PML-N leader undergo spinal physiotherapy for 6-8 weeks as a trial. If that does not improve his condition, surgery will be considered as the best option to make more room for the nerve roots in his cervical spine, the report added.
“We will keep a close eye on him [Dar] and plan to review him in about a month’s time,” Dr Gullan said. The report is silent about whether the former finance minister should avoid travelling or not.
Defence counsel Salman Aslam Butt had informed the SC at the last hearing that doctors had advised Dar in London not to travel for at least six weeks but that his client was seeking a second opinion.
The CJP had asked the counsel to inform Dar that he should comply with the earlier orders by appearing in person before the court on May 8, the next date of hearing, even if he had to come in an ambulance.
Ishaq Dar, who was re-elected to the senate on March 3, 2018, as an independent PML-N-backed candidate, has been in London since October 2017 and was declared absconder by an accountability court in a corruption reference on May 8 in a petition challenging his election to the Senate.
