Pakistan Finance Minister may skip assets reference hearing
Islamabad, Nov 12 (IANS) Pakistan Finance Minister Ishaq Dar is likely to skip the trial proceedings on November 14 in the assets reference when the accountability court is scheduled to resume the hearing, a media report said on Sunday.
Dar intended to file an application before the accountability court seeking an exemption from personal attendance and the appointment of a pleader who would represent him during the trial proceedings, informed officials told Dawn news.
Accountability judge, Mohammad Bashir, on November 8 had ordered Dar to appears before the court on November 14.
According to the officials, Dar could not personally attend the proceedings as he is undergoing medical treatment.
In the reference against Dar, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) alleged that “the accused has acquired assets and pecuniary interests/resources in his own name and/or in the name of his dependents of an amount of 831 million Pakistani Rupees”, Dawn news reported.
The reference alleged that the assets of Dar were “disproportionate to his known sources of income for which he could not reasonably account for”.
During the hearing on November 8, the NAB prosecution had requested the court to issue non-bailable warrants for Dar.
However, the court reissued bailable warrants with a direction to NAB to verify the medical reports of the minister.
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