Pakistan court indicts finance minister in graft case
Pakistan: An accountability court in Islamabad today indicted Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in a corruption reference filed against him by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), reports the Dawn quoting Asia News Network.
The reference was filed against Dar for possessing assets beyond his known sources of income.
The minister pleaded not guilty to all charges read out by Accountability Judge Mohammad Bashir, terming them baseless. Following the indictment, the NAB presented before the court a list of witnesses against the accused.
Dars counsel, Amjad Pervez, pleaded that his client did not receive the notice issued usually by the court seven days prior to the indictment, but the judge told him that since his client had not appeared in the first hearing on September 19, this could be taken to mean that he was allowed the seven-day notice period. The court asked the NAB prosecution to present at least two witnesses who would testify against Dar.
After the hearing, PML-N leader Tariq Fazal Chaudhry while talking to reporters said the court has summoned two witnesses, both of whom are bank officials from Lahore, out of the 28 prosecution witnesses. Meanwhile, the court rejected an application filed by Dar requesting exemption from personal attendance in court hearings and said the case would be heard on a day-to-day basis after Muharram holidays. The hearing was subsequently adjourned till October 4.
A situation of chaos was observed outside the accountability court when Dar arrived for the hearing. The doors to the court were shut for reporters, and the finance minister had to wait at least 20 minutes outside before he was allowed to enter the court premises from the back door.
