SC directs Imran to submit financial details by July 25

• CJ expresses displeasure, says court interested in documents, not reason for delay

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan to submit documents regarding financial details of his London flat by July 25.

A three-member Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Faisal Arab heard the case filed by Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) senior leader Hanif Abbasi seeking disqualification of PTI chief and its Secretary General Jahangir Tareen over hiding of assets.

During the proceedings, counsel for PTI Naeem Bukhari informed the bench that party legal counsel in the case Anwar Mansoor was undergoing treatment for heart ailment in the United States, citing his absence as the reason for the delay in the submission of documents. He said that Anwar Mansoor would return to the country on July 27, after his heart surgery.

The chief justice observed that the case would have to be disposed of swiftly for it was not an ordinary case. He expressed displeasure over PTI for submitting documents in portions and directed the counsel to provide all documents together before the next hearing. Bukhari said that documents to substantiate Imran’s earning abroad have been received and would soon be placed before the court.

He said that the PTI has also retrieved the record of party’s foreign funds, which would also be presented to the court before the next hearing. The chief justice remarked that the court was interested in the documents and not the reason for the delay. The court sought reply of two questions from Imran Khan regarding evidence of foreign income and purchase of the London flat.

Barrister Akram Sheikh also presented renowned Chartered Accountant Ashfaq Toola before the court who told the court that Imran Khan owned a house in Zaman Park in Lahore. Chief Justice Saqib Nisar advised Toola not to become a party in the case. “We have called you here to facilitate us understand legal points, if you have evidence then talk,” he remarked.

The chief justice remarked that the court wanted to verify that no money was sent from Pakistan. The court directed the PTI counsel to submit details by July 25, and adjourned the hearing of the case. Hanif Abbasi accused both Imran and Tareen of not declaring their assets and seeks to unseat them on alleged violations of the lncome Tax Ordinance 1979 and Peoples Act 1974.

Addressing the media after the hearing, Abbasi criticised the constant excuse by the PTI lawyers of not being present in the country. He said that Imran has not furnished the money trail of his Bani Gala estate. PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry claimed that there was no chance of Imran’s disqualification in the case.

“We have submitted all things demanded by the court,” he claimed. He said that Akbar Babar’s documents were provided by the PML-N in the Supreme Court as well. PML-N counsel Akram Sheikh has no clue about the case, he said. Babar, a PTI dissident, has petitioned the Election Commission of Pakistan claiming that there were gross irregularities in the party’s accounts and that it also receives foreign funding.