IHC dismisses Ishaq Dar’s challenge to indictment

Justice Minallah says court has no authority to look into legality of procedure of the accountability court

ISLAMABAD: A division bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) dismissed on Tuesday two separate petitions filed a day earlier by the incumbent Finance Minister Ishaq Dar challenging the indictment order of an accountability court in a graft case against him.

Dar’s attorneys had requested the IHC to set aside the indictment order and stay the trial till the filing of the final reference by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

They argued that the finance minister may be given adequate opportunity to raise objection to framing of charges and its content before calling and recording of the prosecution witnesses.



However, IHC’s division bench comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb observed that the applications had become infructuous. “This court has no authority to interfere and look into the legality of procedure of the accountability court,” Justice Minallah remarked.

Before dismissing the petitions, the bench clarified that although the court had jurisdiction to look into any order, however, the petitioner had the right to approach the monitoring judge of the apex court if he had objections over procedure of the court concerned.

“A Supreme Court’s judge is already monitoring the accountability court’s proceedings and if the petitioner has any objection on procedure of the accountability court, he can approach the SC judge,” Justice Minallah said.

In line with the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Panamagate case, NAB had filed a reference in an accountability court in Islamabad which on September 27 indicted Dar and directed the prosecution to start producing witnesses and evidence from October 4.

In the reference, NAB had alleged that the finance minister had acquired assets and ‘pecuniary interests’ and resources – beyond his known sources of income – in his own name and in the name of his dependents of an approximate amount of Rs831.678 million.

In the petitions, the counsels said that the petitioner appeared before the accountability court on September 25 when copies of the reference in 23 volumes were supplied to him.

On September 27, the counsel said, petitioner filed an application before the court for postponing the framing of charges on the ground that framing of charge was not possible before seven days’ time after supplying copies to the accused under the law.



The court, however, dismissed the application saying that the law mandates framing of charge within seven days of supply of document to the accused and not seven days after the supply of documents.

The division bench observed that the accountability court has not only dismissed the applications but has already framed charges against the suspect; therefore, the instant applications seeking opportunity to raise objection to framing of charges before calling and recording of the prosecution witnesses have become infructuous as the petitioner sought.

On September 14, the accountability court had summoned five members of the Sharif family on September 19 and Dar on September 20 in four references filed against them.

Dar was summoned for allegedly possessing assets beyond his known sources of income in one reference filed against him in line with the Supreme Court’s April 28 judgment.

In the reference against Dar, 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 approximate amount of Rs831.678 million (approx) as per investigation conducted so far”.

The reference alleged that the asset is “disproportionate to his known sources of income for which he could not reasonably account for.”

The accountability court would resume hearing into NAB reference on Wednesday (today).