Accountability court suspends Ishaq Dar's arrest warrant

• Judge prohibits authorities from arresting Ishaq Dar on arrival.
• Accountability court suspends Dar's arrest warrants till October 7.
• "Warrants will be permanently suspended once Dar appears before court in person," says judge. 

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court in the federal capital on Friday suspended the arrest warrants of former finance minister and senior PML-N leader Ishaq Dar till October 7 in a case pertaining to him being a proclaimed offender.

Accountability court judge Mohammad Bashir issued the orders and directed the authorities to not arrest the ex-federal minister — who is currently in London — upon his arrival in Pakistan.

The judge said that once Dar returns to Pakistan, the court will see whether it should revoke his arrest orders or not.

"The arrest warrants will be permanently suspended once Dar appears before the court in person," the judge said.

The politician moved the accountability court on Thursday after the Supreme Court dismissed Dar's appeal in a corruption case following his decision to withdraw the plea.

In 2017, an accountability court, while hearing a corruption reference against Dar, declared him a proclaimed offender due to his continued absence from the proceedings.

The former finance minister was elected as a PML-N senator on a technocrat seat in the Senate election on March 3, 2018.

However, he had not yet taken oath as a senator since 2017. The accountability court had declared Dar an absconder in a corruption reference.

In 2018, a three-member bench of the apex court, headed by former chief justice Saqib Nisar, suspended Dar’s Senate membership for not appearing before the court despite being summoned by the court repeatedly.