The Miracle

NAB court indicts Ishaq Dar in corruption case, hearing to start Oct 4

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An accountabi­lity court in Islamabad on Wednesday indicted Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in a corruption reference filed against him by the National Accountabi­lity Bureau (NAB).The reference was filed against Dar for possessing assets beyond his known sources of income. The minister pleaded not guilty to all charges read out by Accountabi­lity Judge Mohammad Bashir, terming them baseless. Following the indictment, NAB presented before the court a list of witnesses against the accused. Dar’s counsel, Amjad Pervez, pleaded that his client did not receive the notice the court usually issues seven days prior to the indictment, but the judge told him that since his client had not appeared in the first hearing on Sept 19, this could be taken to mean that he was allowed the seven-day notice period. The court asked NAB prosecutio­n to present at least two witnesses who would testify against Dar. After the hearing, PML-N leader Tariq Fazal Chaudhry while talking to reporters said the court has summoned two witnesses, both of whom are are bank officials from Lahore, out of the 28 prosecutio­n witnesses. Meanwhile, the court rejected an applicatio­n filed by Dar requesting exemption from personal attendance in court hearings and said the case would be heard on a day-to-day basis after Muharram holidays. The hearing was subsequent­ly adjourned till October 4.A situation of chaos was observed outside the accountabi­lity court when Dar arrived for the hearing. The doors to the court were shut for reporters, and the finance minister had to wait at least 20 minutes outside before he was allowed to enter the court premises from the back door. On Monday, Judge Mohammad Bashir had handed over a copy of the reference filed by NAB to Dar’s counsel, along with copies of related documents, which comprise 23 volumes.

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