- CJP Saqib Nisar says court has found no evidence that shows Tareen used public office to get his bank loans written off
- Tareen’s lawyer says plea against PTI leader politically motivated; petitioner misled court by stating that Tareen’s name figured in Panama Papers
ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar on Wednesday said the apex court did not want to lay down any law which could be ‘Damocles’ sword’ for parliamentarians in the future.
The CJP made the observation during the 39th hearing of a disqualification petition against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Imran Khan and Jahangir Tareen filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Hanif Abbasi.
Abbasi is seeking the disqualification of Khan and Tareen over the alleged non-disclosure of assets, existence of offshore companies, as well as receiving foreign funding for PTI.
The petition alleges that Tareen owns offshore companies in the name of his children, shared gifts worth over Rs1.6 billion among family members, and was involved in insider trading in the shares of United Sugar Mills Limited in 2005.
“Parliament is a sovereign body and we do not want to lay down a law which could be ‘sword of Damocles’ for parliamentarians in the future,” Chief Justice Nisar remarked while presiding over a three-member bench of the apex court, comprising Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Umar Atta Bandial.
“The Panama Papers verdict was based on hiding of facts, not on the intent to give false statements,” he said.
In July, the apex court had disqualified the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif for failing to declare his iqama and a salary he had received from his son’s Dubai-based company.
“We are looking to see if those who hold public office, who govern the country, have engaged in corrupt practices or used their office for their own benefit,” said the chief justice.
He observed that there was no documentary evidence to establish that PTI Secretary General Jahangir Tareen had used his influence as a federal minister to get his bank loans written off.
“There is no proof that Tareen used his position in the public office to get loans written off,” the chief justice said.
During the hearing of the case, Tareen’s lawyer Sikander Mohmand told the court that Abbasi had filed a petition against Tareen for political reasons.
Defending his client against the allegation of having loans written off, the lawyer told the court that Tareen had never taken any loans.
Mohmand said that his client had been accused of hiding off-shore companies, making false statements before the Election Commission of Pakistan, getting loans written off and providing incorrect information to the Federal Board of Revenue.
The lawyer said that his client was not the beneficial owner of any off-shore company.
“We should have heard the case against Imran Khan and Jahangir Tareen along with the Panama Papers case,” the chief justice remarked during the hearing. “Why were the cases against Khan and Tareen kept separate from the central case?”
The lawyer told the bench that his client’s name had not appeared on the Panama Papers list.
“Hanif Abbasi misled the court that Tareen’s name appeared in the leaked Panama papers, whereas it did not,” Mohmand said.
Justice Bandial remarked that the motive behind hiding an offshore company is to hide wealth, adding that it is mandatory to declare assets and wealth [for politicians seeking public office] as per the law.
The chief justice noted that while it had been reported that 38 hearings of the disqualification case had been held, “nobody talked about the caution and calm with which these hearings were conducted”.
“We do not want anybody to be wronged,” he added.
Despite concluding hearing arguments with regard to Khan’s disqualification, the bench ruled that it would not reserve a verdict in the case until the bench does not conclude hearing into Tareen’s disqualification case.
“The bench concludes hearing Imran Khan’s disqualification plea, [however] we will continue posing questions [in connection with the case] whenever we feel necessary,” remarked Chief Justice Nisar.
The next hearing is set to take place on Thursday at 11am.
When asked in the previous hearings what grounds he seeks to disqualify the lawmaker, Abbasi’s counsel had told the bench that Tareen failed to declare his offshore companies, did not pay agro tax and committed insider trading. He added that the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) sent a notice to Tareen over insider trading as well
Justice Bandial, addressing Abbasi’s counsel, observed that the petitioner has not provided any material regarding Tareen’s offshore company. The judge wondered why the counsel brought forward the matter of the offshore company if he did not have sufficient material on it.
The counsel informed the bench that Tareen showed his agriculture revenue to be Rs540 million to the Federal Board of Revenue whereas the same was shown as Rs120 million to the Election Commission of Pakistan. He said the difference is of Rs420 million in 2010.
Chief Justice Nisar responded that if he paid less income tax then it is a matter between Tareen and the income tax authorities.
This is not our concern as we are looking at issues of being honest and truthful, the chief justice observed further.
At an even earlier hearing, the bench had sought answers to five questions from Tareen’s counsel.
The questions were when was Tareen’s trust formed, when was the offshore company formed, who’s the legal and beneficial owner of the company, when and for how much was the offshore company formed, and how many times did he give funds as gifts to his children from 2002-17.