Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The accountability court hearing the assets accumulation case against former finance minister Ishaq Dar ordered on Monday to indict the other accused in the case on March 12.

As Accountability Court-I Judge Muhammad Bashir resumed proceedings of the supplementary reference against the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz senator, who has been declared a proclaimed offender in the case owing to his no-show since October, he ordered that the other accused be provided copies of the charges against them after which the court will set a date for their indictment.

On Monday, the court had accepted National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) supplementary reference, which includes 24 additional witnesses and three new accused persons.

The accused are National Bank of Pakistan President Saeed Ahmed, Naeem Mahmood and Mansoor Rizvi.

Saeed Ahmed appeared in court on Monday with his counsel Hashmat Habib.

During the hearing, Hashmat Habib argued that there are several obstacles in framing charges and pleaded that the accused be granted time to read the charge-sheet.

The hearing was then adjourned after which the court ruled that the accused will be indicted on March 12, when the next hearing will take place.

Ishaq Dar, a close aide of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Chief Nawaz Sharif, is accused of possessing assets disproportionate to his declared sources of income.

NAB filed an interim reference against Dar in September last year in light of the Supreme Court’s July 28, 2017 verdict in the Panama Papers case.

The supplementary reference is based on seven volumes and includes the account details of the accused persons, with transactions amounting to $4.06 million, according to NAB’s Special Prosecutor Imran Shafiq.

Published in Daily Times, March 6^th 2018.