LAHORE: The Punjab government Tuesday night cleared the residence of former finance minister Ishaq Dar in Lahore which was converted into a shelter home.
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday had issued a stay order against the provincial government’s move after the PML-N leader’s wife Tabbasum Dar had approached the court.
During Monday’s proceedings, her lawyer had pointed out that the government committed a violation of NAB Ordinance 1999 as under Section 12(F) the status of any attached property could not be changed till the disposal of the case.
The counsel said Section 12(F) required that properties frozen and attached under National Accountability Bureau (NAB) law would remain intact till the final disposal of the case.
He said the order restricts not only the government but also other institutions against amending the status of the attached properties.
He further argued that under Section 88 of Criminal Procedure Code 1989 also prohibited the government from either auctioning or mutating the attached property until the final decision of the civil suit already filed by Dar’s family before the relevant court.
After hearing initial arguments, Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan suspended the Punjab government decision to convert Dar’s house into a shelter home and sought replies from it as well as of NAB within 10 days.
An accountability court on Nov 7, 2019 had ordered to auction Dar’s attached property in Lahore; however, on Jan 28, Islamabad High Court (IHC) had issued a restraining order against the accountability court’s order.
On July 27 last year, the Lahore city district government took possession of 7-H, Hajvery House, Gulberg III belonging to Dar after NAB seized all of his movable and immovable assets in connection with a reference, reported The News.
NAB had submitted a plea in an accountability court stating that since Dar was an absconder, all his property in Pakistan should be seized and put to auction.
Dar, who is related to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, has been living in the United Kingdom in self-exile while several cases remain pending against him in Pakistan.
It is pertinent to mention here that the government had initially announced that it would be auctioning the residence of the former finance minister.
However, the government decided not to auction the residence after it was stopped by the IHC and announced to convert the property into a shelter home.
