NAB pushes for immediate sale of Dar’s bungalow

LAHORE:

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has written a letter to Lahore’s deputy commissioner, calling for early auction of former finance minister Ishaq Dar’s expensive bungalow.

According to The Express Tribune, the four-kanal bungalow located in Lahore’s Gulberg area is estimated to have a market price of Rs250 million and NAB wants it to be auctioned under Section 88 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

Legal provisions allow the attachment of any property, movable or immovable or both, belonging to an absconder.

The anti-graft body believes that this will be the second major recovery against the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader, who is accused of possessing assets beyond known sources of income.

Previously, the anti-graft watchdog recovered Rs500 million from Dar’s account and deposited it to the national treasury. The PML-N leader’s accounts have already been frozen.

In December 2017, an accountability court declared the former finance minister as an absconder over his non-compliance with the authorities concerned in the corruption reference.

In 2019, following the orders of an accountability court, the Punjab government had sought the auctioning of Dar’s property. However, the decision was challenged by his wife before an appellate court.

Two weeks ago, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) withdrew stay orders on the said property. Dar’s wife had pleaded before the court that the house had been awarded her as a gift in 1989.

However, after the revocation of the said petition by the high court last month, this development came to light on Wednesday.

It is worth mentioning here that this is the second setback Dar has faced within the ongoing week.

Earlier, the former finance minister, who was elected as a senator in the last elections of the upper house, asked Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani for permission to take his oath virtually.

Dar, who has been living in London for a while, cited medical reasons for his inability to return to the country.

However, the Senate chairman refused his request.