Islamabad (Staff Report/Agencies): An accountability court on Tuesday ended proceedings against Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar in an assets beyond means case.
Accountability Court Judge Mohammad Bashir, in his order reserved a day earlier, remarked that after the [National Accountability (Second Amendment) Act 2022], case against Dar does not fall under the jurisdiction of this court, adding that since the case does not fall under its ambit, it does not have the authority to issue an on the acquittal plea that the federal minister had filed.
“We can neither announce a decision in favour of NAB nor can we issue a decision in favour of the suspect. The trial against Ishaq Dar ends here,” the judge.
A case was filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in December 2017 against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, accusing him of possessing assets disproportionate to his declared sources of income.
A reference against the PML-N leader was filed by NAB in light of the Supreme Court's July 28, 2017, verdict in the Panama Papers case.
Dar had also been declared a proclaimed offender by the accountability court due to his continuous absence from the proceedings — but in October 2022, the court suspended his arrest warrants after he appeared before it.
Courts, across the country, have returned cases after the government amended the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 a few months back as several cases do not fall under their jurisdiction anymore.