- PM’s counsel points out Sheikh Rasheed’s failure to provide evidence to substantiate his claim
The Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) – through counsel Makhdoom Ali Khan – has submitted a written reply to the five member Supreme Court bench to Awami Muslim League chairman Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad’s petition asking for the disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif under the Article 62 of the constitution.
During the Panama case hearing, the counsel noted that the petition filed by the AML chief before the apex court failed to produce any evidence on the basis of which the prime minister could be removed from his position. The ruling party stressed that the court cannot disqualify Nawaz Sharif under Article 184(3) of the constitution neither can the court play the role of investigating agency in this case.
In his petition submitted in September last year, the Awami Muslim League leader had asked the court to disqualify the prime minister since he (Nawaz) had concealed his assets. He had said that Nawaz Sharif could not hold any public office in view of the Article 62 and 63 of the constitution.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan also submitted a 24-page affidavit, describing the ‘murky’ past of Qatari Prince Sheikh Hamad bin Jasim, who came to rescue the Sharif family in establishing the money trail of London flats in the case. As the case enters its final round next week, the PTI affidavit rebutted the Sharif family’s statements and explanations put forward by their counsels.
According to the PTI chief, exchanging huge amounts of money as gifts within the Sharif family – prime minister’s son bestowing upon his father and sister was just a mechanism to whiten undisclosed ‘black money’ owned by the premier himself. According to Imran’s affidavit, Sheikh Hamad had illegally transferred public funds to private accounts and the Qatari government had opened an inquiry in this regard.
The PTI chief requested the court to ignore both the letters allegedly sent by the Qatari prince because they were “unbelievable and (amounted to) a puerile attempt by the rich Qatari to come to the aid of a rich Pakistani and his children.” He stated that there was no investment in Qatar and since, there was no investment, and there can thus be no investment with the Al Thani family.
He contended that till date, no material had been submitted before the court reflecting any banking transaction by the Qatari prince regarding the four flats. He stated that Sharif family purchased flats through “money laundering” and the PM’s daughter was and is the beneficial owner. Imran submitted that the Qatari prince’s first letter was entirely hearsay and urged the court to reject it because after the sale of the Dubai Steel Mills in 1980, the Sharif family could not have had cash for investment in the real estate business of the Qatari family.
In his reply to AML petition, Makhdoom Ali Khan also attached documents of Imran’s offshore company along with the records up till its dissolution. Interestingly, the counsel also submitted a plethora of documents related to PTI’s general secretary Jehangir Khan Tareen including his pending disqualification case, SECP’s action against him, notices sent by FBR, his election application and others.