Accountability court cancels Dar’s arrest warrant.
On Friday, an accountability court in Islamabad cancelled the arrest warrant issued against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in the assets beyond means case.
The cancellation orders were issued after the minister appeared before Accountability court judge Muhammad Bashir with his lawyer Qazi Misbah. The court also directed the minister to submit surety bonds of Rs1 million.
The lawyer told the court that it had issued the arrest warrants so Dar appears before the court, adding that they should be cancelled now as the minister is present before the court.
“Did NAB also issue arrest warrants of Ishaq Dar,” Judge Bashir asked the anti-corruption watchdog’s prosecutor.
Anti-graft’s body responded in the affirmative but clarified that the warrants were suspended.
“What is your point of view now, should the warrants be cancelled or not?” asked the judge.
At this question, the NAB prosecutor supported the cancellation of warrants, adding that they were issued to ensure Dar’s appearance in the case.
The judge then remarked that it will have to indict Dar once again as a supplementary reference has also been filed against him.
To this, Dar’s lawyer stated that they will give arguments on the supplementary reference.
Meanwhile, the finance minister filed a petition against confiscation of property. He also filed a request for permanent exemption from attendance. The court issued notices to NAB on both applications.
Earlier in September, an accountability court suspended Ishaq Dar’s chronic arrest warrants until October 7, saying the court would scrap the arrest warrants when the accused presents himself before the court.
Judge Muhammad Bashir of the Accountability Court heard Ishaq Dar’s plea to get the arrest warrants against him cancelled. Upon receiving a guarantee from Dar’s attorney Qazi Misbah that Dar would come straight to the court after landing at the airport, the court suspended his arrest warrants.
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