IHC dismisses plea against auction of Dar's house

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) rejected on Monday a plea filed by the wife of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Ishaq Dar against an accountability court’s order to put his house on auction.

In her plea, the spouse of the former finance minister who’s absconding in corruption cases said Dar had gifted the house in Lahore’s Gulberg 3 to her on Feb 14, 1989.

“I am the owner of Gulberg 3 house,” Tabassum Dar pleaded. She said the accountability court issued its order for the auction in November last year without taking her claim into consideration.

However, a two-member bench comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Saman Riffat Imtiaz dismissed her petition. A stay order regarding the house stands withdrawn after the dismissal of the plea. After the ruling, the government will be able to auction off the residence.

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The Punjab government advertised the auctioning of the house. The ad said that there would be an open auction on January 28, 2020, which would allow the highest bidder to take possession of the house. The district government has set a minimum price of Rs185 million.

Dar has been absconding court proceedings since 2017 following the registration of reference against him. Later, NAB confiscated his various bank accounts worth Rs500 million and his house, spread over four kanals and seven marlas.

The accountability court had ordered confiscation and auction of Ishaq Dar’s Gulberg III Lahore house on November 7, against which Ishaq Dar’s wife Tabassum Ishaq Dar had filed a petition.

Wife of Ishaq Dar had taken the position that Ishaq Dar had given her that house as a gift on February 14, 1989. However, the honourable court has rejected Tabassum Ishaq Dar’s claim and permitted the federal government to auction the residence.