The return of the wizard? – Independent Pakistan

The stage seems set for the return of former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar after an Islamabad court lifted an arrest order against him.

By Naveed Naqvi

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court Friday lifted a standing arrest order against Ishaq Dar, a top aide and close confidante of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, both of whom live in self-exile in London.

Not only did the Accountability Court suspend a permanent arrest warrant against the former Finance Minister, he expressly ordered the authorities not to arrest when he returns to Pakistan. The order stands until October 7, the next date Judge Muhammad Bashir of the Accountability Court set for hearing into the case.

This is an interesting development, not least because Dar’s fate is closely linked with the political fortunes of Sharif, who is in the middle of staging a political comeback since his brother Shehbaz Sharif took over as prime minister back in April.

As part of his strategy, Sharif was seeking reversal of politically motivated and trumped up cases against himself and his close aides and family before returning to Pakistan. Last week, the Islamabad High Court overturned a corruption case against Ahsan Iqbal, another Sharif aide and a sitting cabinet minister.

A chartered accountant and a businessman, Ishaq Dar is the right-hand man of Nawaz Sharif and was his Finance Minister at the time of his ouster following a judicial determination rendered him ineligible to hold public office in 2017.

Dar continued for a while as Finance Minister in the cabinet of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Sharif’s chosen successor, even after his was accused of accumulating assets in excess of his income and not filing tax returns on time. He terms both allegations baseless.

In October 2017, the economic wizard fell ill while in Saudi Arabia and left for the United Kingdom for medical treatment. In November 2017 the court rejected his request for exception from personal presence, issuing a nonbailable arrest warrant for him.

Ever since, Dar has stayed in London, where he was later joined by Sharif, who also travelled for medical treatment.

Dar’s legal team had earlier approached the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) with a writ petition for suspension of the sentence. However, in an apparent shift of strategy, his lawyers withdrew that plea this week, instead approaching the accountability court On Wednesday.

The court’s consideration of their plea resulted in today’s order. On this occasion, the court directed the relevant authorities to not arrest Dar on his return to Pakistan

During the hearing, Judge Muhammad Bashir remarked that Ishaq Dar should return to Pakistan before the court could look into the cancellation of the warrant.

Dar is highly regarded in Pakistan as an economic wizard. He is said to be the only Pakistani finance minister to successfully complete an economic program sponsored by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

On the other hand, he has steadfastly stood in opposition to the IMF prescription of a free-floating currency. He is also known to have resisted the recommendation to devalue the rupee.

When Pakistan signed a staff-level deal with the IMF this July, Dar said Pakistan deserved a better deal. He has since publicly said that the continual depreciation of the rupee is to blame for the sky-high inflation in Pakistan.

Today’s court order comes against the backdrop of a political narrative being promoted by Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party anointing Dar as a saviour who will return to the country to helm Pakistan’s economy out of the bad times.