ISLAMABAD - Two prosecution witnesses have deposed before the Accountability Court Islamabad on Wednesday in the assets beyond means reference against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.
One of the prosecution witnesses in the case, Ishtiaq Ahmad from Inland Revenue, was cross examined.
The court summoned two more prosecution witnesses Shahid Aziz and Tariq Javaid on the next date of hearing and rose for the day to meet again on October 12. The witnesses, Ahmad and Javaid, both bankers by profession, presented the record of Ishaq Dar and his family members accounts details before the court.
The court recorded the statement of Ahmad who confirmed the record pertaining to the bank accounts details attached with the reference as correct. During cross-questioning, Ahmad informed the court that he was summoned by the NAB authorities on August 16, 2017 and he appeared before them on August 28.
According to the witness, the CEO HD Securities account was opened in the name of Tabassum Ishaq Dar.
On April 16 2003 the company’s director Naeem Mahboob requested for change in address of the company.
To the query of the court, he informed that the record of the change in address was saved in the computer of the bank and the same was also provided to the NAB by the bank manager.
The defence counsel later cross-examined the witness and on conclusion of the cross-examination the hearing in the reference was put off till October 12, when two more witnesses Tariq Javaid who could not be cross-examined on Wednesday and Shahid Aziz would appear before the court.
The accused Finance Minister Ishaq Dar requested to change his counsel and senior advocate Khawaja Haris fulfilled the documentary requirement to become the counsel of Ishaq Dar in the case.
Earlier in the morning, when the court resumed the hearing in the case the accused Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was not present. The court took serious notice of the matter and took a break of half an hour to meet at 9am again. The accused turned up shortly and the court resumed hearing at 9am and directed the prosecution to present the witnesses.
Our Staff Reporter
