LAHORE – Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday rejected a plea deamnding tocancel candidacy of former finance minister Ishaq Dar for Senate electionsand allowed him to contest the polls.
A two-member full bench conducted hearing on Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)leader Nawabzada Nawazish Ali‘s plea during which, the petitioner said thatDar is a proclaimed accused in Panama Leaks case due to which he cannotparticipate in the elections.
The claimant requested the court to annul the verdict of allowing formerminister to contest Senate polls.
Subsequently, the court dismissed the plea and upheld its decision.
The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had nominated Ishaq Dar asits Senate candidate for another three-year term as nine of the PML-NSenators are due to retire next month after completing their terms.
The papers were rejected by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) which wasin LHC’s appellate tribunal. He had adopted stance that the returningofficer rejected the nomination papers contrary to the facts.
The court after hearing the arguments of both the parties permitted Dar totake part in Senate elections. Moreover, Prime Minister Shahid KhaqanAbbasi’s sister Sadia Abbasi and Nuzhat Sadiq were also allowed to contestthe Senate polls.
In December 2017, the anti-corruption court had declared Dar, currentlyseeking medical treatment in London, an “absconder” after he repeatedlyfailed to appear before it in a graft case linking to the Panama Papersscandal.
He was indicted in October last year in a graft case in which he is accusedof making assets that were “disproportionate to his known sources ofincome”.
The case was filed against him by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB)in the light of the Supreme Court order of July 28 that disqualified NawazSharif as prime minister in the Panama Papers scandal.
In its case against Dar, the NAB has alleged that the accused has acquiredassets and pecuniary interests/resources in his own name and/or in the nameof his dependants of an approximate amount of Rs 831.678 million.
Dar is in London since October and has been seeking treatment of anundefined heart complication at a Harley Street hospital.