Ishaq Dar corruption hearing adjourned after lead counsel’s absence

ISLAMABAD: The accountability court hearing a corruption case against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar adjourned proceedings until October 23 owing to the absence of Khawaja Harris, Dar's lead counsel. 

As the hearing began, the court was informed by Dar's legal team that their lead counsel, Harris, is out of the country and thus could not be in court today.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor countered that Harris is not committed to the case but the junior counsel disagreed and pleaded the judge to have the witnesses' statements recorded. 

The judge went into a recess for 15 minutes, directing the defence to find out when Harris will return. 

The NAB prosecutor contended that Harris would appear if the suspect is placed behind bars. 

The judge then adjourned the proceedings until October 23, even though the defence team pleaded the hearing resume on October 25 as Harris will return to the country on Sunday but has cases in the Lahore High Court on October 23-24.  

This was the finance minister's sixth appearance in the court of Accountability Judge Mohammad Bashir.

The court was expected to record the statements of two more prosecution witnesses today — Masood Ghani of Habib Bank and Abdul Rahman Gondal of Allied Bank. The two have been ordered to again appear in court on Monday. 

Previously, the court has recorded the statements of Ishtiaq Ali of Bank Alfalah, Shahid Aziz National Investment Trust and Tariq Javed of Al Baraka Bank. 

The minister is accused of possessing assets beyond his declared sources of income in the reference filed against him by NAB on the directions of the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case judgment. 

Previous hearing 

At the last hearing on October 16, the court rejected Dar's plea to be exempted from appearance, observing that the accused needs to be present when the witnesses record their statements and are cross-examined.

Conducting the cross-examination of witness Tariq Javed of Al Baraka Bank, Harris accused the witness of lying in court after he produced 'bogus' documents regarding his summons by the NAB. 

The NAB has submitted a list of 28 witnesses with the accountability court, which is hearing the Supreme Court-directed case against Dar and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family.

Dar — who was indicted on September 27 for owning assets beyond his known sources of income — has denied all charges and vowed to prove his innocence in court.

The minister also challenged his indictment and trial in the Islamabad High Court but the pleas were dismissed with directions to take them to Justice Ijazul Ahsan — the Supreme Court judge monitoring the corruption references.

The reference

The corruption reference pertaining to Dar's owning assets disproportionate to his known sources of income was filed by the NAB in light of the Supreme Court's July 28 judgment in the Panama Papers case.

After skipping his first hearing — for which a summons had been issued —Dar appeared in court later after bailable warrants for his arrest were been issued to ensure his presence.

The judge then directed Dar to deposit a Rs. 5 million surety bond to ensure his appearance at the hearings.