Ishaq Dar not subject to any red notice: Interpol.

Byline: Atika Rehman

LONDON -- The government's attempts to build pressure on former finance minister Ishaq Dar suffered a setback this week as it emerged that Interpol, the international body which facilitates worldwide police and crime control cooperation, has said the self-exiled PML-N leader is not subject to any red notice or diffusion.

Interpol's General Secretariat in a letter available with Dawn said: 'Mr Dar Mohammad Ishaq born on 13 May 1950 is not subject to an Interpol red notice or diffusion.'

The decision was taken by Interpol during its 109th session held in July.

'After a thorough examination of the elements before it, the commission found that the data challenged raised questions as to compliance with applicable rules. As a result, it considered that the retention of these data in the Interpol information system was not compliant with Interpol's rules and decided that they should be deleted,' it said.

Last year, former chief justice Saqib Nisar on several occasions demanded to know the whereabouts of Mr Dar during court hearings, and took a keen interest in his extradition from the United Kingdom where he is currently residing. In July 2018, the attorney general told the apex court that the interior ministry on a request of the Federal Investigation Agency had issued red warrants and was now waiting for a reply from Interpol. The court was also informed that Mr Dar's properties in Pakistan had been forfeited.

PML-N celebrates notice as victory; govt says development has no bearing on extradition

In a September 2018 hearing, Additional Attorney General Nayyar Abbas Rizvi had informed the court that the government was taking steps to bring Mr Dar back home for which contacts had been established with Interpol for the issuance of red warrants. 'But the matter is still pending with Interpol,' he had said, adding that it usually takes a few months to extradite an individual.

Ali Dar, the son of Mr Dar, told Dawn that his father engaged a lawyer soon after he saw news reports of the government's request to Interpol. 'Initially, when we found out that the [the government] wrote to Interpol, we immediately engaged a lawyer who gave Interpol our point of view,' he said. 'We informed them about Mr Dar's health issues and also briefed them on the merits of the cases against him to substantiate our innocence.' He added that the lawyer submitted audits of Mr Dar's accounts 'reconciled down to the penny' to Interpol.

This summer, at...