Accountability court suspends Ishaq Dar’s arrest warrant

The judge stopped the authorities from arresting Ishaq Dar on arrival.
The accountability court suspended Dar’s arrest warrant till October 7.
“Once Darr appears in court in person, the warrant will be permanently suspended,” the judge said.

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court in the federal capital on Friday suspended the arrest warrant of former finance minister and senior Muslim League (N) leader Ishaq Dar till October 7 in a case related to his advertisement.

Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Bashir issued the orders and directed the authorities that the former federal minister – who is currently in London – should not be arrested on his arrival in Pakistan.

The judge said that when Dar returns to Pakistan, the court will see whether it should cancel the orders for his arrest.

“The arrest warrant will be permanently suspended after Dar appears in court in person,” the judge said.

The politician approached the accountability court on Thursday after the Supreme Court dismissed Dar’s appeal after its decision to withdraw Dar’s plea in the corruption case.

In 2017, the accountability court, while hearing a corruption reference against Dar, declared him admissible due to his continued absence from proceedings.

Former finance minister was elected senator of Muslim League (N) on Technocrat seat in Senate election on March 3, 2018.

However, he was not sworn in as a senator since 2017. Accountability Court had declared Dar absconding in the corruption reference.

In 2018, a three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by former Chief Justice Saqib Nisar suspended Dar’s membership of the Senate after he failed to appear in the court despite repeated summons.