PM’s aide rebuts Zardari’s allegations

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Law Ashtar Ausaf Ali on Tuesday strongly rebutted the allegations obliquely levelled by former president and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-Chairperson Asif Ali Zardari against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

Without naming the finance minister, the PPP co-chairperson said in a statement issued on Monday that the government should first “take action against a federal minister who gave a confessional statement before a magistrate that he was involved in money-laundering for the Sharif brothers”.

Rejecting the allegation, Ali said in a statement that Zardari levelled allegations against Ishaq Dar but he seemed to be ‘ill- informed and ill-advised’.

“The insinuation reported in the media calls for a clarification so the truth accepted by the superior court be made public. The record should be corrected once for all,” he said. The special assistant said the Hudabiya Paper Mills case (Reference No 5 of 2000) was quashed by the Lahore High Court vide its judgment dated 11-3-2014 passed in Writ Petition No 2617/2011 which held that the alleged statement was illegal and without lawful authority.

“This verdict has become final and should suffice to put an end to the malicious propaganda on the subject. That even earlier the Hudabiya Paper Mills case was thrown out by the Lahore High Court, as far back as 1996, yet some elements keep referring to it for ulterior purposes,” he said.

He said despite the said judgment, a ‘vilification and slander’ campaign against the finance minister went on for ulterior motives, adding that despite microscopic and forensic examination of record no wrongdoing was ever found by any of the investigating agencies.

“This speaks volumes about the unblemished professional and political career of the finance minister,” he said.

The special assistant said that persons involved in the shameful and unscrupulous manoeuvring against the finance minister were called upon to restrain from further propaganda about any alleged confessional statement.

“They should appreciate for once, the ruthless pressure faced by him and the sufferings of the family. [this pressure] was resisted even in the most oppressive regime of General Musharaf and details of which were made public in 2003 without any rebuttal from any quarter,” he said.

He said these facts have been revealed in detail to prevent people from disrespecting judgments of the superior courts, as well as publishing slanderous statements about Dar.

“However, if someone continues to level baseless accusations against the finance minister, he would have the right to take legal action against the Kazzaab (liar) which may not be limited to civil proceedings only but may also entail criminal proceedings under the law within and outside Pakistan,” Ashtar said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 2^nd, 2015.