ISLAMABAD:With the expectations in the air that the Supreme Court verdict on Panamagate case is likely to be announced in next few days, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has cancelled his trip to China.
A well-placed source in the PTI told Pakistan Today that Imran Khan had been alarmed by some influential people that the court is going to announce its judgment in the Panamagate case in the next few days which made the PTI chief to cancel his trip to China.
A five-member bench of the Supreme Court reserved its verdict on February 23 after the lawyers from both sides concluded their arguments. The bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa heard the case on daily basis. Other bench members are Justice Ejaz Afzal, Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan.
The petitioners sought disqualification of the prime minister over the investments made in offshore companies by members of his family.
The counsels of the ruling family claim that petitioners had failed to produce any evidence in the court while opposition parties were of the view that they have done their job and now its court’s responsibility to take action.
The cancellation of the visit may hurt the confidence building measures (CBMs) between the PTI and the Communist Party of China (CPC) as Beijing sees PTI as a new potential partner. However, the cancellation of the scheduled visit is being seen by analysts as a blow to the relations between both the parties as China is expanding its outreach towards all the political parties of Pakistan.
The cancellation of visit would mean that there is no trip for Imran Khan to China in the next six months time as China would be hosting few very important conferences in the next few months. Khan’s visit was being planned for the past few months and the PTI and the CPC had been working hard to make the visit happen.
Khan had to leave China next week with a 20-member delegation where he was set to meet senior leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
“Initially, Shah Mahmood Qureshi had to lead a 10-member delegation to China where he was set to meet CPC members of the Parliament,” the source said and added that later Imran Khan had to accompany another 10-member delegation to join his comrades already present in China.
Khan had to meet senior Chinese leadership but all the scheduled meetings were cancelled when Khan was alarmed that the court verdict was being expected in the next few days.
Khan Thursday won another case against the ruling party as the Election Commission of Pakistan rejected two identical references forwarded to the commission by Speaker National Assembly Ayaz Sadiq seeking disqualification of PTI chairman and his deputy Jahangir Khan Tareen.
According to documents available with Pakistan Today, Khan had been invited by the International Department of the Communist Party of China (ID CPC).
Other than Imran Khan, the CPC had invited Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Jahangir Khan Tareen, Asad Umar, Dr Arif Alvi, Naeemul Haq, Abdul Aleem Khan, Ishaq Khan Khakwani, Sardar Yaar Mohammad Rind, Atif Khan, Dr Wasim Shehzad, Awn Chauhdry, Shafqat Mahmood, Dr Shireen Mazari, Senator Azam Khan Swati, Senator Shibli Fraz, Shehryar Khan Afridi, Ms Munazza Hassan, Imran Ismail, Ali Zaidi and Bayazeed Kasi.
In his concluding remarks, Asif Saeed Khosa said that no short judgment is being passed. He said it is not an ordinary case. The court will consider all aspects of the case and give the judgment in accordance with law and the Constitution.
During the proceedings, the apex court repeatedly raised questions on the documents and material produced before the court saying these require verification.
Responding to the points raised by Naeem Bukhari, the counsel for PTI, during the rebuttal process, the bench said it cannot dispense with the normal law of the land and undo the entire jurisprudence.