–Top court orders PTI leader to submit record of 18,564 acres of land
–Tareen’s lawyer refuses to admit discrepancy in income declared on tax returns and nomination papers
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday, while observing discrepancies in the assets of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Jahangir Khan Tareen, sought the record of 18,564 acres of land in relation to the disqualification case against him.
A three-member bench of the apex court ─ headed by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Umar Atta Bandial and Justice Faisal Arab ─ was hearing a petition filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Hanif Abbasi which seeks the disqualification of Tareen and PTI Chairman Imran Khan over the alleged non-disclosure of assets, existence of offshore companies, as well as receiving foreign funding for PTI.
During the hearing, the court observed that the income declared by Tareen before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in his nomination papers was less than the figure declared on his tax returns to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), wondering if the discrepancy alluded to money laundering.
Tareen’s lawyer Advocate Sikandar Mohammad, however, told the bench that his client had not concealed any part of his income, adding that his client was required to only submit details of income he had received from his personal land to the ECP.
The lawyer then told the court that Tareen had declared before the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) the income that he received from land on contract.
The court asked Mohammad to provide records that prove the land he was referring to was, in fact, on contract.
“What will your client’s position be if the records prove that the land was not contractual?” the chief justice asked the lawyer.
“Your client has been accused of money laundering,” Justice Bandial observed.
In response to one of the judge’s queries, Mohmand said that the concerned authorities had declared Tareen’s assets fair after enquiry.
As the lawyer told the court that Tareen pays the highest amount of tax in Pakistan, the SC again referred to the Panama Papers case which disqualified former prime minister Nawaz Sharif for not declaring an Iqama and an income he had received from his son’s Dubai-based company.
“The Panama Papers verdict was based on hiding of facts, not on the intent to give false statements,” the chief justice had remarked during the hearing of the case a day earlier.
“The Panama Papers case was about assets exceeding income,” the chief justice observed during Thursday’s hearing, adding that the SC can open an investigation if it is found that false statements were made in the nomination papers. He reminded the lawyer that in the Panama Papers case, the SC had formed a joint investigation team to probe allegations of money laundering against the Sharif family.
“Our case is different from the Panama Papers case,” the lawyer said, arguing that while Nawaz Sharif had held the office for 36 years, Tareen had only done so for 3 years.
“How much tax was paid on the land [on contract]?” Justice Bandial asked. The lawyer told the court that he would submit the required documents once he had acquired them.
“We are not here for tax scrutiny,” the chief justice said. “Do you accept that there is a discrepancy in the income declared on the tax returns and the nomination papers?” he asked the lawyer.
The lawyer responded that he did not, adding that the nomination papers were incomplete.
Justice Faisal Arab remarked that people showed agri-income for the sole purpose of whitening black money.
“After paying agri-tax only, such income on which no tax has been paid whitens and can be shown as legitimate income,” the judge remarked.
He said that why Tareen showed such a huge agriculture income which created doubts. “These doubts warrant answers by Tareen,” he concluded.
The hearing was adjourned until Tuesday.