Court Summons Two More Witnesses On Oct 30, In Reference Against Dar

An Accountability Court (AC) of Islamabad Monday summoned two more prosecution witnesses to testify and adjourned the hearing of reference against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar till October 30

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Oct, 2017 ) :An Accountability Court (AC) of Islamabad Monday summoned two more prosecution witnesses to testify and adjourned the hearing of reference against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar till October 30.

AC Judge Muhammad Bashir took up the reference for hearing against Ishaq Dar regarding assets beyond known source of income filed by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in compliance of Supreme Court orders in Panama papers case.

The Finance Minister appeared before the case along with his counsel Khawaja Harris amid strict security arrangements in place. During hearing, the court recorded the statement of two NAB witnesses Abdul Rehman Gondal and Masood ghani who also submitted Ishaq Dar's bank account and transactions details.

Abdul Rehman said the account was opened in 2005 in a private bank's branch inside the premises of Parliament and he has provided its transactions details from March 2005 to 2017. The witness informed the court that he had appeared before the investigation officer on August 17, this year regarding the matter.

Recording his statement, the second prosecution witness Masood Ghani also provided bank record of Ishaq Dar to the accountability court.

The counsel for Finance Minister, Khawaja Harris cross-examined with the both witnesses .

On non-completion of cross-examining with NAB witnesses by the defense counsel, the court directed the both to appear again before court on next date of hearing. Meanwhile, the NAB prosecutor provided a report with the court recording the freezing of Dar's assets by the department.

The NAB officials also filed an application with the accountability court seeking endorsement of seizing Dar's assets by the NAB chairman. The court, however, sought reply from Ishaq Dar regarding the application and adjourned the case till October 30.

The court also summoned two other NAB witnesses including Faisal Shahzad and Mohammad Azeem, also from the banking sectors, for the next hearing to record their statements. It may be mentioned here that the AC had already recorded statements of three witnesses Shahid Aziz, Tariq Javed and Ishtiaq Ali during last hearings of the reference while cross examination had also been conducted by Dar's counsel Khawaja Haris with them.

The AC had already indicted Ishaq Dar in this reference that was filed against him on September 8, this year in compliance of apex court orders.