Ishaq Dar assets reference: Hearing under way in accountability court

 

ISLAMABAD: Accountability Court I resumed hearing a corruption reference on Wednesday against former finance minister Ishaq Dar for owning assets disproportionate to his declared income. 

Judge Muhammad Bashir was presiding over the case. 

Three more accused in a supplementary reference were presented in court today. A private bank's employee Tariq Saleem and Mohsin, both prosecution witnesses, were also present for the hearing. 

Impossible for NAB to extradite Ishaq Dar anytime soon

According to some legal experts, cancelling Dar’s passport will make him stateless and allow him to qualify for protection under the Geneva Convention 1951

The hearing is currently under way. 

On Monday, the federal government reportedly cancelled Dar's diplomatic passport. 

The former minister and his wife were issued diplomatic passports – a legal entitlement– after surrendering their blue passports when the former became leader of the opposition in the Senate of Pakistan in 2012 and continued to have the same when he resigned in June 2013 as the opposition leader and took oath as a federal minister.

The case 

The former finance minister is accused of possessing assets disproportionate to his declared sources of income.

A reference against the former finance minister was filed by the National Accountability Bureau (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.