ISLAMABAD, October 16: The accountability court hearing a corruption case against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar rejected on Monday 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.
As the hearing in the assets reference case filed by NAB began on Monday, the finance minister appeared in court amid tight security measures.
Hussain Mufti, Dar’s associate counsel, informed the judge that Harris will be available to appear at noon. He also pleaded the judge to exempt his client from the hearing today due to official work.
However, Judge Mohammad Bashir remarked that the lead counsel can present the exemption arguments when he appears in court. He observed further that the accused needs to be present when witnesses are recording statements [and thus cannot be exempted from appearance].
This was the finance minister’s fifth appearance in the court of Accountability Judge Mohammad Bashir.
The judge then ordered a recess until noon, directing the minister to appear again with his lead counsel.
Strict security arrangements were in place at the court with a heavy deployment of police and Frontier Constabulary personnel.
As the hearing resumed around noon, lead counsel Khawaja Harris appeared in court and argued for his client’s exemption.
However, the NAB prosecutor argued that the minister should relieve himself of his ‘duties’ and be present in court. The judge then ruled what he had observed earlier – that the accused has to be present in court when the witnesses record their statements and are cross-examined.
Conducting the cross-examination of Tariq Javed of Al Baraka Bank, Harris accused the witness of lying in court after the witness said he has not read the documents submitted in detail and only given then a cursory look.
Javed had recorded his statement and presented bank records at the last hearing.
Later, Harris completed his cross-examination.
The hearing was then adjourned until 11:30am, October 18.
For the next hearing, the court has summoned Masood Ghani of Habib Bank and Abdul Rahman Gondal of Allied Bank to record their statements and then be cross-examined by Dar’s counsel.
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 summons had been issued -Dar appeared in court later after bailable warrants for his arrest jave 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.-Agencies
