Panama Papers case: Court issues bailable arrest warrant for Pakistan Finance Minister Ishaq Dar
The court adjourned the hearing to November 2.
Pakistan’s accountability court on Monday issued a bailable arrest warrant for Finance Minister Ishaq Dar after he failed to appear for a scheduled hearing, Dawn reported. Dar’s counsel had requested exemption from appearing as he had to go to London to undergo medical treatment for an ailment. The court rejected the application.
The court adjourned the hearing to November 2. The trial could not continue on Monday because of Dar’s absence, though prosecution witnesses were present in the court.
Last month, the court had indicted Dar in the Panama Papers case, and he was charged for possessing assets beyond his known sources of income.
The minister had called the charges baseless and pleaded not guilty. On September 8, Pakistan’s anti-corruption watchdog, the National Accountability Bureau, had filed the case of disproportionate assets against Dar. The case was lodged after the Supreme Court, on July 28, disqualified then prime minister Nawaz Sharif as an MP, forcing him to step down as the prime minister.