At the onset of hearing of the reference, Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Bashir asked Dar that arrest warrants issued against him still exist, questioning why he had failed to submit a surety bond. The counsel for Dar, Amjad Pervez, told the court that they had brought surety bond with them and would deposit it forthwith.
The court during the previous hearing had issued bail-able arrest warrants against Dar and ordered him to submit a surety bond valuing Rs 1 million. During the hearing, the NAB's prosecutor told the court that NAB Lahore had raided Dar's residences in Islamabad and Lahore for his arrest but he was not present there, adding he suddenly appeared before the court that day.
He pleaded the court to issue non-bailable arrest warrants against Dar. However, the judge rejected NAB's plea and fixed the date of Sep 27 (tomorrow) for Dar's indictment.
The court also issued directives to provide a complete copy of case documents to Dar. Dar's counsel urged the court to grant him one week for scrutiny of corruption reference, consisting of over 23 volumes. The judge rejected the plea and observed that the court would conduct the trial on a daily basis to complete it within six months. "If you take so many days to read the reference, how we will complete the proceedings in the stipulated time," the judge asked Dar's counsel, saying that two days are enough to go through the reference.
The court also directed Dar to deposit a Rs 5 million surety bond to ensure his appearance on the next hearing. Later, the finance minister refused to talk to the media after appearing before the court. He returned to the country on Sunday night from London along with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.
A heavy contingent of police was deployed on the occasion to avert any untoward situation. The country's top anti-graft body had filed three references against former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his three children - Maryam Nawaz, Hussain Nawaz and Hassan Nawaz - and his son-in-law Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar, while one reference was filed against Dar.
The three references filed against Nawaz Sharif and his family include: a) reference relating to the Avenfield Properties (Flat No. 16 and 16-A, 17 and 17-A, Avenfield House, Park Lane, London, United Kingdom); b) a reference relating to establishment of Azizia Steel Company and Hill Metals Company, Jeddah; c) and the third reference is about the establishment of companies including Flagship Investment Ltd, Hartstone Properties Ltd, Que Holdings Ltd, Quint Eaton Place 2 Ltd, Quint Saloane Ltd, Quaint Ltd, Flagship Securities Ltd, Quint Gloucestor Place Ltd, Quint Paddington Ltd, Flagship Developments Ltd, Alanna Services Ltd, Lankin SA (BVI), Chadron Inc, Ansbacher Inc, Coomber Inc and Capital FZE (Dubai). The NAB had also filed a reference against Dar for possessing assets beyond his known sources of income.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017