AN accountability court on Tuesday disposed of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) proceedings against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar regarding the assets beyond means case.
The accountability court in Islamabad heard the acquittal plea of the three accused as well as Dar, and Judge Muhammad Basheer announced the reserved verdict, sending the reference back to NAB.
A reference was filed against the Finance Minister back in 2017 relating to assets beyond means but NAB could not provide any substantial evidence to support the reference.
However, a campaign of character assassination was launched against Mr. Dar, who had to proceed abroad and returned only recently, surrendering himself to court.
The Minister and other co-accused had filed an acquittal plea and now the reference has been closed apparently because of lack of evidence.
This is not the only case as similar references were filed against many other PML(N) and PPP leaders but the Government and the NAB could not substantiate their accusations against these leaders in the courts of law despite the fact that a special entity was created to gather information and evidence.
It was because of all this that the PML(N) and PPP have been complaining that the accountability process was only a witch-hunting exercise aimed at pressurizing the opposition parties.
In fact, important personalities of the two parties were kept in prison for years without any solid reason and ultimately the courts had to set them free.
There is, therefore, a legitimate demand that the accountability process should be reformed to ensure there is no victimization on political consideration and only genuine cases are filed against those who indulged in corrupt practices or misused their powers.
Accountability is definitely the need of the hour but there must be transparency in the entire process.
