ISLAMABAD (DNA) – Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has requested the Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to allow him to take sick leave as he is feeling sick and undergoing medical treatment outside the country, sources informed on Wednesday.

In a letter to the PM, Dar said that he is not resigning from the office but seeking leaves to take a respite from the affairs of the ministry.

The development was unearthed by Dunya News president Kamran Khan during yesterday in his program “Dunya Kamran Khan Kay Sath” in which he predicted that the announcement of the decision would come within next 48 hours.

It was further added that the ministry will be given to a close friend of PM Abbasi following Dar’s elimination in the form of a respite. After the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) cases, Ishaq Dar is being criticized continuously for holding his office both by political as well as journalist fraternities, the political analyst had opined.

It was earlier rumored that Ishaq Dar had decided to resign owing to bad health, however, PM’s spokesman Musadik Malik had confirmed that Dar will continue to keep the ministry.

Meanwhile, the accountability court had declared the Finance Minister as absconder and rejected his petition in which he sought immunity from hearing of assets beyond known sources of income reference filed by NAB. The court had further directed to release advertisement for Dar’s summoning and had issued a show-cause notice to Ishaq Dar’s guarantor Ahmed Ali Quddusi, ordering him to submit reply by November 24.