By Muhammad Luqman
A Pakistani anti-graft court has issued an arrest warrant for Finance Minister Ishaq Dar after he failed to appear for a scheduled hearing on Monday.
Ishaq Dar is in London receiving medical treatment and couldn’t attend court, Amjad Pervez, an attorney for the finance minister, said. Next hearing date of the case is November 2.
Dar and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif were indicted this month on charges of corruption following Sharif’s disqualification by Pakistan’s Supreme Court on July 28. A bailable arrest warrant was also issued against Sharif last week when he failed to turn up for a hearing looking into his family’s purchase of high-end London flats. Both Sharif and Dar have pleaded innocent.
Pakistan has been hit by political turmoil ahead of elections next year. Sharif’s ousting followed last year’s leaks from a Panama law firm, which showed his children used offshore shell companies to purchase properties in the U.K.. Opposition leader and former cricket star Imran Khan then led a highly-charged anti-corruption campaign, which prompted the top court to mandate an investigation into the Sharif family businesses.
