Consultations under way to bring back Dar, AGP tells SC

ISLAMABAD: Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Anwar Mansoor on Tuesday informed the Supreme Court that consultations were under way with the departments concerned for bringing back former finance minister Ishaq Dar.

A three-member SC bench, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, resumed hearing of a case pertaining to Dar's return to the country, according to Geo News report.

The attorney general said, "Dar's diplomatic and other passports have been cancelled."

"The Ministry of Interior has also blacklisted the former finance minister on National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) request," he further said.

When the attorney general informed that Dar has no valid travel documents, the chief justice questioned, "Then how will he come back?"

"There is a system in place through which he can be brought back," the attorney general responded.

As AGP Mansoor presented his arguments, Justice Nisar asked him "whether he has reviewed the matter".

The attorney general responded, "I have spoken to authorities concerned regarding Dar's return."

Justice Nisar then remarked, "You must be aware that NAB has declared Dar absconder. Can the state still not bring him back?"

To this, Justice Ijazul Ahsan added, "We have an extradition treaty with the United Kingdom."

However, the attorney general responded, "For that we will have to take this matter up in the courts over there."

Further, during the hearing, the NAB prosecutor general informed the court, "We have found details of several of Dar's properties and will submit their records together after an inquiry."

The attorney general added, "Consultations are under way with departments concerned to bring him back."

Directing the relevant departments to continue taking steps for Dar's return, the court adjourned the hearing till the next week.

The former finance minister is accused of possessing assets disproportionate to his declared sources of income.

A reference against the former finance minister was filed by the NAB in the light of the Supreme Court's July 28 verdict in the Panama Papers case.

Dar had earlier been declared a proclaimed offender by the accountability court due to his continuous absence from the proceedings.