LHC stays conversion of Ishaq Dar’s house into ‘Panah Gah’

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday issued a stay order against the conversion of former finance minister Ishaq Dar’s residence into a shelter home (Panah Gah), reported Geo News.

LHC's Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan issued the orders while hearing a petition filed by the PML-N leader's wife Tabbasum Dar.

Tabbasum in her petition had pleaded that the Punjab government had converted the house into a shelter home illegally and that the Islamabad High Court had already issued a stay order in this regard.

“Punjab government’s move is against the law and constitution. The Punjab government went against the high court’s order when it converted the house,” the petition stated.

The petition further said that the government was taking political revenge and that the court should declare the move as null and void.

The court in its order directed the provincial government to submit its response within 10 days and issued a stay order against the conversion of Dar’s house into a shelter home.

The provincial government had confiscated Dar’s Gulberg residence in the light of the orders of an accountability court of Islamabad.

On July 27 last year, the Lahore city district government took possession of 7-H, Hajvery House, Gulberg III belonging to Dar after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) seized all of his movable and immovable assets in connection with a reference, reported The News.

NAB had submitted a plea in an accountability court stating that since Dar was an absconder, all his property in Pakistan should be seized and put to auction.

Dar, who is related to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, has been living in the United Kingdom in self-exile as he faces several cases in Pakistani courts.

Dar condemns govt's move

In a video message posted on PML-N's official Twitter account on Saturday, Dar the PML-N leader announced he would take the matter of converting his house into a shelter home to court.

Dar, in the video condemned the government’s move and said the government's move was in contempt of court because the Islamabad High Court had issued a stay order regarding the matter on January 27.

“The government has taken this step because I am absconder, but even the decision to brand me as a fugitive is also unlawful because my petition is in the Supreme Court,” he said. “When the government had announced it would auction my house I had filed the petition.”