IHC upholds NAB court order to auction Dar’s property

ISLAMABAD, January 31: While upholding an accountability court verdict ordering auction of PML-N self-exiled supremo Ishaq Dar house in Lahore on Monday, a division bench of the Islamabad High Court rejected the stay application of Dar’s wife in the matter.
A bench of Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Ms Saman Rafat Imtiaz announced verdict in the case on Monday which it reserved a week ago on January 26.
Three years ago, Tabassum Ishaq, wife of Ishaq Dar had filed an application before accountability court Islamabad with a plea to stop auctioning of Dar’s property in Gulberg Lahore.
However, the accountability court judge Mohammad Bashir announced the decision, saying that the petitioner failed to substantiate her claim that Dar had gifted the house to her. The court also rejected her plea for access to a video of a raid on the property.
Earlier, in response to a reference against Dar before the accountability court during 2018, top anti-graft body had seized all of Dar’s moveable and immoveable assets, including a house in Gulberg III, Lahore; three plots in Al Falah Housing Society, Lahore; six acres of land in Islamabad; a two-kanal plot in Parliamentarians Enclave, Islamabad; a plot in the Senate Cooperative Housing Society, Islamabad; a plot measuring two kanals and another of nine marlas in Islamabad and six vehicles.
The bureau said that Dar had acquired in his name and/or in the names of his dependants’ assets worth Rs831.7 million, which was disproportionate to his known sources of income. On October 2, 2018, the accountability court had attached Dar’s properties with the Punjab government and allowed its auction as per rules.
Assailing the accountability court order before IHC, Tabassum Ishaq’ counsel contended before a division bench of Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Ms Saman Rafat Imtiaz that Dar had verbally gifted the property to her wife on February 14, 1989 as dower amount.
Tabssum Ishaq claimed that since she had accepted the gift and was residing there, the National Accountability Bureau had erroneously shown the property as an asset of Dar. She urged the IHC to cancel the order for the auction of the property. However, the NAB said in its reply the house deed was registered in the name of Dar in the revenue record and was not yet transferred to the name of his spouse. TLTP