Former finance minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Senator Ishaq Dar will likely return to Pakistan in the third week of July.

The sources claimed that Dar would likely replace Miftah Ismail as finance minister as Ismail is not a member of parliament, his appointment has been undertaken as per Section nine of Article 91 of the Constitution, which pertains to making any non-elected person a member of the cabinet.

Under the law, if a person not a member of any of the two houses of the parliament is appointed as a minister, he or she has to be elected to the National Assembly within a six months’ time.

Earlier this year, Dar was re-instated to the Senate by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The PML-N stalwart is eligible to assume responsibilities as finance minister as he is elected to the National Assembly.

Dar will face his court cases and assume his responsibilities as Senator. He will decide on joining the federal cabinet after winning the cases.

The PML-N leader, who has served as federal minister for finance four times between 1998 and 2017, has been living in a self-imposed exile in the United Kingdom since November 2017.

There are various cases against the senior PML-N leader, in which he is specifically accused of not submitting details of his assets for 22 years.

An accountability court declared him proclaimed offender in assets beyond means case in December 2017.

Sources privy to the development said that the lawyers of Ishaq Dar will soon file for his protective bail.