ISLAMABAD – Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday rejected a second application filed by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar against his indictment by an accountability court.
Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, part of the two-judge division bench reserved the verdict on the petition on October 11 after completion of arguments.
Dar’s corruption reference concerns with his ownership of “assets which exceeds his known sources of income”.
Dar was charged by the accountability court last month within 48 hours after he obtained a copy of the reference filed against him by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
The minister’s counsel said that he would request the Supreme Court against the high court’s verdict.
“Islamabad High Court did not even hear our stance,” said Advocate Abdul Rehman, further adding that it is Dar’s constitutional right to fulfill his constitutional obligations.
The IHC, earlier this month had rejected Dar’s first application disputing his ‘swift indictment’ by the accountability court in the assets reference case.
The petition submitted by Dar’s counsel, Khawaja Harris, who maintained that the accountability court had not granted him a minimum period of seven days to examine the material that the accountability court had handed him.
NAB Lahore wrote to the State Bank of Pakistan on September 18 and reminded them that since a reference was pending against him, “the bank accounts of Dar may be cautioned”.
NAB had also written to district governments, asking them to stop any transfer of the properties owned by Dar, warning that in case of non-compliance, they could face up to three years in prison under the law.
