Hearing against Ishaq Dar adjourned until April 5 after lawyer's commotion
Counsel for co-accused Mansoor Rizvi misbehaved with the accountability court judge and stormed out with his client
April 03, 2018
ISLAMABAD: The indictment of the co-accused in the supplementary corruption reference against former finance minister Ishaq Dar was postponed until April 5 today after the counsel of one of the suspects misbehaved in court.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed an interim reference against Dar in September last year on the Supreme Court's directives in the Panama Papers case.
In a supplementary reference filed recently, NAB named National Bank of Pakistan President Saeed Ahmed, Naeem Mehmood and Mansoor Rizvi as co-accused. The latter two have been identified as directors of one of Dar's companies. All three are accused of aiding Dar in opening fictitious bank accounts and transferring money abroad.
As the hearing went under way today, Mansoor's counsel, Javed Akbar, misbehaved with Judge Mohammad Bashir while seeking an adjournment in today's proceedings.
As the argument progressed, Akbar, who is president of the Islamabad High Court Bar Association, threw away his papers and said he's leaving the courtroom along with his client.
The court then issued warrants for Mansoor's arrest and also issued a show-cause notice to Akbar.
The hearing was then adjourned until April 5.
The co-accused have submitted surety bonds in court to ensure their appearance in the hearings.
The former finance minister, who has been absconding in the case since October last year, has already been indicted in the case.
The case
Dar, a close aide of Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif, is accused of possessing assets disproportionate to his declared sources of income.
NAB filed an interim reference against Dar in September last year in light of the Supreme Court's July 28, 2017, verdict in the Panama Papers case.
The recently-filed supplementary reference is based on seven volumes and includes the account details of the accused persons, with transactions amounting to $4.06 million, according to NAB's Special Prosecutor Imran Shafiq.
The three accused in the supplementary reference are identified as directors of Dar's companies.
Dar was recently re-elected to the Senate of Pakistan. He has been in London on medical grounds since October last year.
