ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Tuesday declared Finance Minister Ishaq Dar an absconder and warned his guarantors of the confiscation of surety bonds worth Rs5 million if the finance minister did not join trial proceedings.

Accountability Court Judge Mohammad Bashir called Mr Dar an “absconder” and ordered the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to initiate proceedings under section 87 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and submit a report within 10 days.

In routine practice, the court seeks such reports within 30 days. Earlier, the same court indicted Mr Dar within 48 hours of supplying him copies of the reference prepared by NAB on allegations of possessing assets beyond his known sources of income.

Court gives NAB mere 10 days to initiate proceedings

Generally, the court gives an accused at least seven days from the delivery of copies of the reference to framing of charges.

The court also issued a show-cause notice to Mr Dar’s guarantor, asking why the Rs5 million surety may not be considered forfeited. He has been directed to reply on Nov 24. Further proceedings were then adjourned until Dec 4.

The journalists covering the trial were given a tough time by security personnel on Tuesday and were not allowed to enter the courtroom before 9am, even though the prosecutors and witnesses had been inside the courtroom since 8:30am.

Reporters were only allowed to enter the courtroom at 9am. At the time, the judge was in his chambers, but the security staff was relentless, not even allowing journalists to communicate with each other.

They warned reporters against whispering amongst themselves and threatened to evict anyone who broke the silence, even in the judge’s absence. Upon inquiry, a security official said the judge had issued orders to maintain discipline among the journalists present in the courtroom.

When the hearing commenced, Mr Dar’s counsel Qausain Faisal Mufti submitted a fresh medical report to the court and said that doctors would examine his client on Nov 27, adding that he had been specifically barred him travelling.

In his arguments, Mr Mufti said that there were no conflicting statements in the report and NAB had yet to verify the previous two medical reports as per the court’s earlier directions.

He told the court that an audio-visual arrangement could be set up to allow the court to see the medical condition of the accused.

But NAB prosecutor Imran Shafiq opposed the request, saying the medical report didn’t fulfil the legal requirements set out in the UK’s Criminal Procedure Rules, 2014.

He said the report did not mention the expertise and qualifications of the doctor concerned, adding that none of the material the doctor had relied upon in his diagnosis had been attached to the report either.

A NAB investigation officer who testified on Tuesday said that following the issuance of non-bailable warrants for Mr Dar’s arrest, his residences in Lahore and Islamabad had been raided.

While recording his statement, the officer said that Mr Dar was deliberately concealing himself from legal proceedings and had reportedly absconded to England, asking that he might be declared a proclaimed offender.

Subsequently, the court dismissed the finance minister’s application, seeking exemption from appearance until his recovery.

Prosecutor Shafiq told the court that the previous medical reports had been forwarded to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for verification and a reply was awaited. He requested the court to dismiss the application and initiate proceedings under section 87 of the CrPC.

Following the dismissal of the application, the NAB prosecutor requested the court to pass a ‘confirmation’ order, which would allow NAB to attach two more properties — the Hajveri Trust and Hajveri Foundation — allegedly belonging to Mr Dar and located on Raiwind Road and MM Alam Road, Lahore, respectively.

Mr Mufti said the properties did not belong to Mr Dar and were being run by a trust, adding that the court might issue a notice to the trust since they were separate entities. He also informed the court that orphaned children lived in the properties, which also carried out several other charitable activities.

Following objections, the court said it would decide the matter later, but no order had been passed until the filing of this report.

Previously, the court had confirmed the freezing of Mr Dar’s assets, properties, bank accounts and investments in Pakistan and abroad, except for an account with the Accountant General Of Pakistan Revenue (AGPR).

Published in Dawn, November 22nd, 2017