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Dar Declared Proclaimed Offender in NAB Reference

Islamabad (December 11, 2017): The accountability court hearing NAB reference against former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday declared him as proclaimed offender.

The accountability court heard the reference against Dar for possessing assets beyond know sources of income.

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Judge Muhamamd Bashir allowed National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) plea to declare the former finance minister as proclaimed offender in the corruption reference after he repeatedly failed to join the trial.At the outset of hearing on Monday, Dar’s counsel pleaded the court to delay declaring his client as proclaimed offender, and submitted a new medical report in court.

However, NAB prosecutor opposed the plea and urged the court to declare him as PO, arguing that the former minister was given ample opportunity to join the trail.

After hearing both the prosecutor and Dar counsel the court reserved its ruling in the morning, which it announced later.

Defence lawyer Advocate Qausain Faisal Mufti told the court that Dar was suffering from chest pain and a minor issue in a coronary artery and, therefore, could not appear in court.

The prosecution rejected Mufti’s claims and declared that the former minister was not suffering from any medical issues because all of his medical reports presented in court differed from the other.

But National Accountability Bureau (NAB) special prosecutor Imran Shafique opposed the plea and urged the court to declare Dar a proclaimed offender due to his continuous absence in court.After hearing both the counsel and prosecutor, the court reserved its ruling on the matter which will be announced shortly.

On Monday, Qazi Misbah, a former deputy prosecutor general of NAB, appeared on behalf of Dar and requested the judge to be allowed to plead Dar’s case. However, the judge dismissed the request as Misbah is not a counsel in the case.

The court can also seize Dar’s surety bond of Rs5 million today if his bail guarantor, Ahmad Ali Qudoosi, fails to assure the court of the senator’s appearance.Over Dar’s continuous absence in the case, which was filed by the NAB in light of the Supreme Court’s July 28 verdict in the Panama Papers case, the court had issued non-bailable arrest warrants on November 14 and declared him an absconder on November 21.

Dar is accused of owning assets that are disproportionate to his declared sources of income. He has skipped the last six hearings of the case owing to his medical treatment in London.Later, after a period of 10 days (instead of the usual 30), the court initiated the process of declaring Dar a proclaimed offender.

At the last hearing on December 4, the court had reserved its decision on formally declaring Dar a proclaimed offender.

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