ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court, hearing the disqualification case against Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Jahangir Tareen, adjourned the hearing of the petition till October 23.
On Thursday, a three-member bench—headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Umar Atta Bandial and Justice Faisal Arab —was hearing the petition filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hanif Abbasi.
The petition seeks the disqualification of PTI Chairman Imran Khan and the party’s secretary general Tareen from holding public office, over non-disclosure of assets, owning offshore companies, and receiving funds for the party from prohibited sources.
The hearing on Thursday picked up from Wednesday’s proceedings in which the court questioned whether or not Tareen acted fairly as the director of JDW Sugar Mills when the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) had ordered him to pay a fine of Rs70 million in 2005 when his employees engaged in insider trading.
A notice was issued to the Additional Attorney General to seek an opinion on Sections 15-A and 15-B of the SECP Act.
The CJP had asked the parties involved to assist the court in establishing whether the penalties paid by Tareen could be considered part of the public expenditure after his counsel argued that the payment under sections 15-A and 15-B of the Security Exchange Ordinance 1969 had nothing to do with the consolidated funds and that penalties imposed under it never went to the public exchequer.
Chief Justice Nisar said that the court will hear the miscellaneous application filed by the PTI chairman regarding the money trail on Monday.
Meanwhile, Tareen’s counsel Sikandar Bashir Mohmand said that his client wished to close the matter with the SECP since he had already paid a fine to the regulatory body.
Mohmand added his client had already provided his justification to the SECP and it was his honesty that had helped him avoid getting into any controversy over insider trading. He added that Article 62(1)(F) specified what honesty means.
However, the CJP said that each country had its own laws, adding “we have to look at the case within the limits of our own law […] we are hearing each petition with no boundaries. Each day, new questions arise.”
The case is related to integrity, and integrity has a number of meanings, he said, adding, “If we are attempting to disqualify a member of the parliament over lack of integrity, we first have to ascertain what integrity means.”
He also questioned whether integrity had anything to do with corruption, or with those who hold public office.
There are many questions the parties have to answer, the chief justice said, adding that disqualification over the ignorance of Article 62(1)(F) was being discussed.
The chief justice also went on to express concerns over television talk shows. He said that observations of the bench members and their remarks should not become the subject of discussion on these shows.
“I often don’t watch television but since the friends sitting here in the court have my number so they WhatsApp me some things which support the stance of someone, and suggest me to take action against this smear campaign,” he said.
He also said that “according to the right of freedom of speech, critique should be made on decision instead of character.”
Chief Justice Nisar also warned PML-N leaders over their unjustified comments since the disqualification of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
It is crucial to note that in an earlier remark on some of the details in the documents submitted by the PTI secretary general, the CJP had said that it seemed like some of the documents were fake.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Barrister Ali Zafar said that court should not give such type of observations which generates questions; similarly, the political leaders should not critique anyone’s character.
