An accountability court on Wednesday recorded statements of two more witnesses in the reference of assets beyond income against former finance minister Ishaq Dar. Judge Muhammad Bashir presided over the hearing and ordered a third witness to appear in court with relevant records on January 30. Only one of Dar’s three co-accused- Mansoor Rizvi-was present for the hearing. The National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) prosecutor raised objection over the absence of the two other co-accused, Naeem Mehmood and National Bank of Pakistan’s former president Saeed Ahmed. The defence counsel, however, contended that only one accused was required to attend the hearing, but said the other two would be present at the next. After recording the statements of two witnesses, the judge adjourned the hearing and ordered the third prosecution witness, Aftab, to be present for the next hearing on January 30.
Published in Daily Times, January 24th 2019.