ISLAMABAD: An accountability court declared on Monday former finance minister Ishaq Dar a proclaimed offender for his continued absence from proceedings in a reference against him.

The court also issued a final warning to the guarantors of the former finance minister to produce him in court or forfeit surety bonds worth Rs5 million.

Accountability Judge Moham­mad Bashir was hearing the reference regarding assets beyond known means of income, filed against Mr Dar by the National Accounta­bility Bureau (NAB) on Supreme Court orders.

The judge declared him a proclaimed offender after hearing from the prosecution as well as from defence attorney Qusain Mufti.

Former finance minister gets three days to appear in court after which his properties would be attached

The same court also summoned two more prosecution witnesses in the Avenfield properties reference against the Sharif family, who will record their testimonies on Dec 19.

Opposing NAB’s plea to declare Mr Dar a proclaimed offender, Mr Mufti presented a fresh medical report of his client and said that his latest MRI report was still awaited. He told the court that the former finance minister still complained of a pain in his chest and was awaiting further tests, but added that surgery might not be necessary.

He contended that NAB had not yet verified the medical reports submitted to the court and had served notices at one of Mr Dar’s residences in Lahore where he was not currently residing.

The NAB prosecutor, however, maintained that the accused was fully aware of the proceedings against him. He was of the opinion that Mr Dar did not suffer from any ailment, as one report was completely different from the other.

He asked the court to declare the accused a proclaimed offender for his continued absence from proceedings. After initially reserving the judgement, the judge announced Mr Dar’s proclamation after a brief recess and ordered that the trial would proceed under Section 512 (Record of evidence in absence of accused) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

The judge gave Mr Dar three days to appear before the court, after which his properties would be attached, and ordered prosecution witnesses to testify on Dec 14.

During Monday’s proceedings, former NAB deputy prosecutor general Qazi Mirza was not allowed to argue on behalf of Mr Dar as he did not possess a power of attorney.

Separately, the court also ordered two witnesses to testify in the Avenfield properties reference against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his children Hussain, Hassan and Maryam, as well as son-in-law retired Capt Mohammad Safdar.

On Monday, Capt Safdar appeared before the court, while a representative appeared on behalf of Maryam and her father, who have been exempted from proceedings.

During proceedings of the Al-Azizia Steel reference, the Sharifs’ counsel Khawaja Haris cross-examined prosecution witness Malik Tayyab and requested the court for a copy of the statement made by another witness, Afaq Ahmed, before the Joint Investigation Team.

In response, NAB stated that since the statement had been submitted to the Supreme Court, it would take some time to get a copy from the apex court.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2017