Court declares Finance Minister Ishaq Dar absconder

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Tuesday declared Finance Minister Ishaq Dar an absconder and directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to initiate proceedings against him for declaring him proclaimed offender – publishing and pasting ads at different locations asking the accused to appear before the court.
The court, which passed the orders over his repeated failure to appear in person, directed NAB to initiate proclamation proceedings under Section 87 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and submit a report within 10 days.
It also dismissed an application of Dar through which he had been seeking representation before the court through a pleader, his counsel Qusain Faisal Mufti.
The court allowed NAB to freeze Dar’s two more properties – Plot No 33 & 34 Holiday Park Ali Razabad, Raiwind Road, Lahore and 92-B-1 MM Alam Road, Gulberg III, Lahore – the details of which were submitted on November 14.
It also issued a show-cause notice to the personal guarantor of Dar – Ali Ahmed Qudoosi – directing him to explain why his surety worth Rs 5 million may not be forfeited. He has been directed to submit a written reply by November 24 (Friday).
Earlier, an investigation officer (IO) Nadir Abbas appeared before the court and recorded his statement. Abbas is an IO in the reference titled ‘assets and funds beyond known sources of income’ against Dar.
The IO said after the court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Dar, he raided his residences in Lahore and Islamabad but couldn’t find him there. He said the accused was wilfully avoiding the court proceedings and reportedly absconded to England. He requested the court to declare the accused as proclaimed offender. At the start of proceedings, Dar’s counsel submitted an application on his behalf, requesting the court to allow his client to be represented by a pleader, and also produced a medical certificate according to which Dar has to pay a second visit to a cardiologist Dr Ranjeet Deshpandey in London. Dar’s counsel further submitted that during angiography of his client, one blood vessel leading toward his heart had ruptured, adding that an audio-visual arrangement could be set up through which the court could even see medical conditions of the accused.
A NAB prosecutor Imran Shafique objected over Dar’s appearance before the court through pleader and said presence of the accused was necessary in criminal proceedings.
The prosecutor said there were several inconsistencies in the statements and the medical certificate submitted before the court was not attested according to the Rule 33.4 of United Kingdom Criminal Procedure Rules. “According to Rule 33.4M a medical certificate is only acceptable if the relevant doctor or expert furnish certain details that are missing,” he said. He said that no expertise and qualification of the doctor concerned had been mentioned in the report and no material upon, which the doctor relied upon, had been attached. “Further this medical report doesn’t contain a declaration of truth,” said the prosecutor.
Dar’s counsel had raised an objection that NAB was yet to get the previous two medical reports attested as directed by this court. But the prosecutor argued that the previous medical reports had been forwarded to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for verification and a reply was awaited.
Later, the accountability court dismissed the two applications and issued the above mentioned order.