ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s fifth hearing in the accountability court ended without much progress as Dar’s lawyer was only able to complete Tariq Javed’s cross-examination.
In the previous hearing, Al-Baraka Bank Senior Vice-President Tariq Javed had informed the court that Dar opened an account in the bank’s Lahore branch in 1991 and provided the court details of all five accounts held by Dar in the bank.
On Monday, he submitted a record of e-mails exchanged between the bank and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), which he was asked to present by the court in last week’s hearing.
Javed said that he had not reviewed the submitted documents in detail and despite having submitted documents related to Dar’s First Hajvery Modarba Company, he was unaware of how modarba companies operated.
NAB’s Special Prosecutor Imran Shafiq said that a bank officer need not know how a company works and it was the job of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) to inform on the matter.
Shafiq objected to Dar’s lawyer Khawaja Harris’ plea to exempt his client from appearing in the court for today’s hearing. He said that the case was the most important matter for the accused and if an assignment or a meeting is a hindrance to his appearance, the accused should give it up.
Accountability Judge Muhammad Bashir deferred judgement on the matter which meant Dar remained in the court until the end of the day’s hearing. The hearing was then adjourned until October 18.
