–Former finance minister criticises govt for ‘wasting’ time in seeking IMF’s help
–IHC adjourns hearing of petition against Dar’s frozen bank accounts
ISLAMABAD: The accountability court on Thursday summoned more witnesses in the next hearing against former finance minister Ishaq Dar who is accused of amassing assets disproportionate to his declared income.
Two co-accused Naeem Muhammad and Mansoor Rizvi were present in the court whereas the court accepted former National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) president Saeed Ahmed’s plea for exemption from the day’s hearing. Ahmed is also a co-accused in the case.
The lawyer of Mansoor and Naeem Ahmed said that the called upon witnesses were not related to his clients. Therefore, the court summoned more witnesses for the next hearing of the case.
The court later adjourned the hearing till November 28.
Meanwhile, Ishaq Dar, who has been declared a proclaimed offender by the court due to his continuous absence from the proceedings, criticised the current government for seeking help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after much delay.
“Delay in turning to the IMF reflects bad governance,” he said.
In an interview to a media outlet, he said that the government wasted considerable time in getting assistance from IMF, while the other governments in the past did not delay such matters of economic importance.
He further claimed that the government lacks proper financial plan as it had not done any homework before coming into power.
IHC:
Separately, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) adjourned the hearing of a petition against the frozen bank accounts of Hajveri Trust, owned by Dar.
A divisional bench of IHC comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhter Kiyani heard the case filed by the former finance minister’s wife.
The court adjourned the hearing till December 12 without any proceedings due to the absence of the petitioner’s counsel.
BACKGROUND:
A reference against the former finance minister was filed by NAB in light of the Supreme Court’s July 28 verdict in the Panama Papers case.
In its reference, NAB had 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”.
Dar, a former senator, has been in London since October last year on account of his medical treatment. Moreover, a reference against the former finance minister was filed by the NAB in light of the Supreme Court’s July 28 verdict in the Panama Papers case.
Dar had earlier been declared a proclaimed offender by the accountability court due to his continuous absence from the proceedings.
In November 2017, then-prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had accepted Dar’s request to be relieved of his duties as the finance minister.