Former finance minister Ishaq Dar could not appear before an Islamabad accountability court on Tuesday as he was required to do under a court order, following his return to Pakistan the previous night.
The accountability court had suspended Dar’s arrest warrants last week and told him to ‘surrender’ before the court before October 7. The decision allowed Dar to return to the country without the fear of being arrested at the airport.
Dar was expected to appear before the court on Tuesday and take oath as a Senator later in the day.
The Islamabad police had deployed a contingent at the accountability court to ensure security.
However, Dar did not accompany Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and other PMLN leaders who arrived at the court Tuesday morning.
Sanaullah told reporters that Judge Mohammad Bashir was on leave. “When he returns, we will also comeback for court appearance,” he said.
A key meeting of the federal cabinet is scheduled for Wednesday and Dar was likely to attend it as finance minister.
Dar returned to Pakistan Tuesday night ending his five years of self-imposed exile.
He had left the country days after being indicted in an assets-beyond-means case by the accountability court, which later declared him proclaimed offender.