ISLAMABAD: An accountability court in Islamabad on Wednesday issued a permanent arrest warrant for former finance minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader Ishaq Dar in the assets beyond means case.
At today’s hearing, NAB prosecutor Afzal Qureshi and counsel for the co-accused appeared before the court, and Judge Muhammad Bashir presided over the proceedings.
The judge ruled that the reference’s proceedings would only move forward once Dar, who is in a self-imposed exile in London, will be arrested and presented before the court. Subsequently, the court adjourned the hearing of the case till the detention of the PML-N leader.
In December 2017, an accountability court declared the former finance minister an absconder over his non-compliance with the authorities concerned in the corruption reference.
In 2019, following the orders of an accountability court, then Punjab government had sought the auctioning of Dar’s property. However, the decision was challenged by his wife before an appellate court.
Earlier this year, the court had withdrawn its order and the NAB was allowed to go ahead with the auction. Subsequently in February this year, NAB wrote a letter to the Lahore deputy commissioner asking them to auction the house without delay.
The four-kanal bungalow located in Lahore’s Gulberg area is estimated to have a market price of Rs250 million and NAB wants it to be auctioned under Section 88 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
