Court dismisses assets beyond means case against Ishaq Dar

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Tuesday dismissed the assets beyond means case against Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar.

The court dismissed the case maintaining that it does not come under the jurisdiction of the court following the NAB Amendment Ordinance. Judge Muhammad Bashir of the Accountability Court pronounced the decision reserved a day earlier.

“After the [National Accountability (Second Amendment) Act 2022], this case does not fall under the jurisdiction of this court,” Judge Mohammad Bashir remarked while hearing the proceedings.  The detailed verdict will be issued at a later date.

The court also noted that since the case does not fall under its jurisdiction, it does not have the authority to issue an acquittal on the plea filed by the finance minister.

“We can neither announce a decision in favour of NAB nor can we issue a decision in favour of the suspect. The trial against Ishaq Dar ends here,” the judge added.

A reference against the PML-N leader was filed by NAB in light of the Supreme Court’s July 28, 2017, verdict in the Panama Papers case.

The reference was filed against Ishaq Dar in 2017 for possessing assets beyond his declared sources of income. Saeed Ahmed, Naeem Mahmood, and Mansoor Raza Rizvi were also named in the reference. The statements of 42 witnesses were recorded during the trial.

Ishaq Dar left the country in November 2017 on the pretext of seeking medical treatment in London. He had been declared a proclaimed offender due to his continuous absence from court proceedings.

The court suspended his arrest warrants after he appeared before in October 2022 after five years in self-exile abroad.

In August, the National Assembly passed the National Accountability (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022, which sought to exclude private transactions from the scope of NAB. Under the amended bill, the jurisdiction of NAB had been fixed to only take action against mega scandals.

Following the amendment, accountability courts withdrew 50 major corruption cases against suspects including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shahbaz.

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