LAHORE, Jan 31: An accountability court trying Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat in a wilful default reference bound him on Friday to appear on Feb 8 and reserved it’s verdict on his application for exemption from personal appearance in the proceedings till next hearing.

The minister had moved the application on grounds that he could not attend the proceedings personally owing to his official engagements after assuming the charge. He had requested the court to allow Advocate Sadia Malik to appear as his pleader before it.

Faisal had attended the proceedings in person on Oct 29, 2002, and had been seeking exemption on every subsequent hearing since then. He had moved an application in December last through his counsel for exemption from personal appearance during the rest of the trial.

The court heard arguments on two legal propositions as to whether an application for exemption from personal appearance could be granted to an accused who had not moved it in person and whether the application itself was maintainable.

After hearing arguments from both sides on the two propositions, the court observed that the minister should be present in the court at the time of the pronouncement of verdict on his application. Earlier, Advocate Khwaja Haris while appearing for the minister argued before the court that he could seek exemption from personal appearance under the provisions of law and the court had the discretion to allow the exemption.

He cited the case of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, saying the Supreme Court had ruled that the Ehtesab Bench should decide her application for exemption from personal appearance in a NAB reference on merits even in her absence.

The minister had filed an undertaking with the application that he would appear in person whenever required by the court and following such undertaking, the application should be allowed, argued the counsel.

Khwaja Haris submitted that the presence of the minister in the proceedings was not mandatory since he had to attend public functions on a daily basis.

PML-N acting president Mukhdoom Javed Hashmi had been exempted from personal appearance in a NAB reference after his return to the National Assembly by the court on the same ground, he argued. Prosecutor S.M Nazim refuted these submissions, saying the application was not maintainable for being frivolous. He argued that the application could not be admitted even for hearing since it had been moved in the absence of the accused. According to the prosecutor, an under trial accused could only be exempted from personal appearance under sections 116, 205 and 540 CrPC. None of these three provisions was applicable in the present case since the accused had not appeared in person to move the application, he argued. The prosecutor further submitted that Mukhdoom Javed Hashmi had been granted exemption from personal appearance once he had appeared personally to plead his application.

He concluded his arguments, saying federal cabinet meetings and public functions were not scheduled to be held on a daily basis and the minister could afford to turn up before court on his lean days in Islamabad. He offered that the prosecution, while keeping in view his professional engagements, would fully cooperate with the accused in the fixation of dates for hearing.