ISLAMABAD, KARACHI: Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan has declared that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan is safe in the disqualification reference but senior party member Jahangir Khan Tareen has been declared disqualified for life under Article 62(1)-F of Pakistan’s constitution.
The decision said that it was not must for Imran Khan to declare his offshore company. However, Jahangir Tareen was disqualified due to misdeclaration of assets and corruption charges. The verdict also stated that Jahangir Tareen had openly lied to Supreme Court as he maintained that his Hyde House belonged to his children while he was the real owner of the house and the trust owning it.
The petitions had been filed against the two PTI leaders by Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hanif Abbasi, who was represented by senior lawyer Akram Sheikh while Imran Khan was being represented in the apex court by Naeem Bukhari.
SC had reserved its decision on the case on November 14. The three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar was hearing the petition. Justice Umar Atta Bandial and Justice Faisal Arab are the other two members of the bench. The decision was announced with a delay of around 90 minutes.
Read Supreme Court’s complete decision here:
Imran Khan Jahangir Tareen disqualification case
LIVE updates of Imran Khan, Jahangir Tareen disqualification cases
4:30pm – PML-N leader Dr Musaddik Malik said that Nawaz Sharif had been disqualified for a salary he didn’t even receive while Imran Khan had been let off despite failing to declare his assets before ECP.
“If you read the Panama decision, it doesn’t even mention Maryam Nawaz Sharif. But the moment she said ‘rok sako tou rok lo’ (lit.: Stop us if you can), cases against her were opened. The former PM didn’t stop criticism, leading to the reopening plea for Hudaibiya case. But he continued to speak his mind out and the subsequent cases, sit-ins are all a result of his open criticism”.
4:25pm – “I strongly condemn NAB over the decision in Hudaibiya case, which was quashed on technical grounds just because the prosecutor did not present the case properly”, Imran Khan said.
4:23pm – Imran Khan announced filing a case against Geo News for misreporting throughout the year in this case. “I will discuss with my lawyer if we should take Mir Shakil ur-Rehman and Geo to court because they continuously misreported the case, equating it with Panama case against Sharif family.
4:18pm – Imran Khan thanks God for decision, blasts Hanif Abbasi
Imran Khan said that Nawaz sharif couldn’t have found anyone other than Hanif Abbasi, who has drugs’ smuggling cases against him. He said that his case was scrutinised for one year. “It is a shame though that a person who had brought his hard-earned money to Pakistan with the ‘biggest money-launderer’ of Pakistan”, he said.
Imran Khan expressed grief over Jahangir Tareen’s disqualification, saying that he was one of the most honest businessmen in Pakistan but had been disqualified over technical reasons.
4:14pm – Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb says that the decision was expected and was in line with what former PM Nawaz Sharif had stated during his GT Road rally after disqualification.
4:12pm – Sheikh Rasheed tells Imran Khan to remarry Jemima Khan
Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rasheed said that Imran Khan has only been saved by his ex-wife Jemima Khan. He requested Imran Khan to remarry Jemima Khan.
He predicted that Imran Khan will be the next Prime Minister of Pakistan and assured that his party will stand firm with him.
4:05pm – PML-N leader Danyal Aziz said that the court decision gave an impression that it wanted to save Imran Khan by sacrificing Jahangir Tareen. He lambasted the limiting of ECP’s powers to scrutinise PTI’s foreign funding during the last five years only, terming the decision as ‘political engineering’.
4:04pm – Petitioner Hanif Abbasi says he will present his opinion on the case after reading the detailed verdict.
4:00pm – Court decision said that Imran Khan was not on the board of directors of Niazi Services Limited while Bani Gala residence was declared properly in the assets.
3:57pm – On the issue of foreign funding, SC stated that it wasn’t the right of the petitioner to raise questions over foreign funding issue since it was solely the prerogative of the federal government. However, the case has been forwarded to ECP, empowering the commission to decide on the case.
3:56pm – SC also said that Jahangir Tareen had lied before the bench regarding his assets when he claimed that the assets belonged to his children and had nothing to do with him.
3:55pm – Jahangir Tareen’s decision can be reviewed according to the law.
3:51pm – PTI lawyer Fawad Chaudhry says that two out of three respondents had been quashed by Supreme Court, and two out of three allegations against Jahangir Tareen had also been quashed. However, Tareen had been disqualified on technical basis but he will go into review petition.
3:45pm – Jahangir Tareen has been declared dishonest in a unanimous decision of Supreme Court’s 3-member bench. He has been found involved in corruption according to court decision.
3:41pm – Chief Justice said that Jahangir Tareen’s statement was equal to admittance. He stands disqualified according to the decision.
3:39pm – Jahangir Tareen admitted to his crime and also paid the fine imposed by SECP in 2008, says the court decision. The allegations against Jahangir Tareen have been deemed fit for hearing.
3:38pm – Decision regarding Jahangir Tareen now being announced by Chief Justice.
3:32pm – SC rejects Hanif Abbasi’s petition against PTI chief Imran Khan. Imran Khan is not going to be disqualified in the case. Declaring the offshore company in this case was not necessary, says the SC decision.
3:30pm – Foreign funding was irrelevant to the petitioner but the case has been referred to Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
3:29pm – Foreign funding allegations have been rejected by the Supreme Court.
3:27pm – Chief Justice said that there was an error on one of the pages and it took some time to correct it, and thus the delay in the announcement of the decision. He said that the judges had to read 250 pages again due to the error identified on one page.
3:25pm – Chief Justice has started to announce the decision.
3:10pm – All three judges have arrived in the Court Room No 1 and the decision is to be announced shortly.
2:42pm – Justice Umar Atta Bandial and Justice Faisal Arab have arrived in Chief Justice’s chamber.
2:21pm – Supreme Court had to announce the decision but it hasn’t been outed as yet. PML-N workers and activists are present in and around the court in large number.
2:03pm – PTI counsel Naeem Bukhari has already congratulated the workers, though the decision hasn’t been announced as yet.
Congratulations PTI Family.Stay tuned.
— Naeem Bukhari (@NaeemBukharii) December 15, 2017
1:56pm – Petitioner Hanif Abbasi arrived at SC along with Talal Chaudhry and other PML-N leaders.
1:55pm – Imran Ismail talked to media in Karachi where he said that the party was completely confident about the case.
1:47pm – Court Room No 1 has been opened for the lawyers, journalists and representatives of the two parties.
1:36pm – PTI leader Shehryar Afridi said while talking to media outside the parliament house that the case will be decided in Imran Khan’s favour and PML-N’s politically motivated cases will bite the dust.
1:27pm – PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry says Imran Khan and Jahangir Tareen presented all their documents before Supreme Court. He felt confident about his chairman’s case.
1:05pm – Here’s another important observation from Salman Akram Raja.
The fact that the SC judgment in Hudaiybia is being seen as part of some balancing act by the SC reflects a lack of belief in the courts deciding cases on merit. Media responsible for this distrust? Judges must again start speaking thru judgments and not live tickers.
— salman akram raja (@salmanAraja) December 15, 2017
Supreme Court’s 3-member bench quashed the Hudaibiya Paper Mills reopening plea from National Accountability Bureau (NAB) earlier today.
11:59pm – The case before SC, as senior lawyer Salman Akram Raja sees it:
The issue in IK’s case before the SC is not whether any law was violated but whether the positions taken before the SC or in any nomination paper filed in the past was truthful, based on the standard of disclosure set by the Panama judgment?
— salman akram raja (@salmanAraja) December 15, 2017
11:40am – Federal Minister Daniyal Aziz says that being public office holder isn’t necessary for being a cheat. He said that Imran Khan and Jahangir Tareen had already confessed to their misdeclaration. It is not Imran Khan or PTI on trial today, but the system of this state.
Also read: SC rejects NAB appeal to reopen Hudaibiya case
11:28am – Former Attorney General Irfan Qadir says that Imran Khan might be saved from disqualification because if he also gets disqualified, Supreme Court will be exposed to criticism from every political party because currently it is being supported by Imran Khan’s PTI only.
He said that SC will have to walk a very tight rope in this case because the power it has conferred upon itself to disqualify legislators is something that has pushed SC in a very tight corner and we will have to see how Chief Justice will negotiate the situation.
11:19am – Senior journalist Hamid Mir says that Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification case will weigh in here as well. He said that 62-1(f) is expected to be invoked in Imran Khan’s case as well, since the issue of misdeclaration of assets was also present here.
Mir said that most of the law experts believe that Imran Khan’s disqualification could hardly be one-time disqualification but Jahangir Tareen might get disqualified permanently in this case.
11:15am – Federal Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry has said that SC’s decision today will finish Imran Khan’s political career.
10:13am – Here is some speculation from senior reporter and analyst, Habib Akram.
Speculation: JKT disqualified for good. IK disqualified for incomplete nomination papers in 2013 and will be able to contest in 2018.
— Habib Akram (@HabibAkram) December 15, 2017
It is pertinent to mention here that senior reporter Sabir Shakir had also shared similar concerns in a program last night when he said that according to what he deduced from the court proceedings, it was unlikely for Imran Khan to be disqualified but considering the proceedings on the last day of the hearing, Jahangir Tareen might be in some sort of trouble.
A brief timeline of the Imran Khan, Jahangir Tareen disqualification case proceedings
November 14, 2017: SC reserved the decision
September 28, 2017: Imran Khan submitted two letters from ex-wife Jemima Khan
51 hearings were conducted in approximately one year
Imran Khan submitted some 18 answers before the bench overall
November 30, 2016: Imran Khan submitted his first written answer before the bench
November 24, 2016: SC rejected the plea for hearing of the case by full bench of Supreme Court
The bench was initially headed by former Chief Justice Anwer Zaheer Jamali
November 15, 2016: Imran Khan and Jahangir Tareen issued notices by Supreme Court
November 7, 2016 : First hearing of the case conducted
November 2, 2016: Petition filed by Hanif Abbasi
9:44am – Imran Khan and Jahangir Tareen are currently in Karachi due to political engagements and none might be able to attend the court proceedings today.
9:15am – Court Room No 1 being prepared for the big decision:
Preparations in Court Room No 1 ahead of a big decision today about Imran Khan and Jehangir Tareen. pic.twitter.com/vXull9ofDP
— Matiullah Jan (@Matiullahjan919) December 15, 2017
Imran Khan disqualification case background
Hanif Abbasi had filed the reference against the PTI chief and his close aide last year in November. The petition by the PML-N leader from Rawalpindi claimed that the two PTI leaders had concealed their assets from Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), in violation of lncome Tax Ordinance, 1979, and Peoples Act, 1974.
The reference against Imran Khan is regarding his offshore company named Niazi Services Limited that he owned previously and the sale of his flat in London and the purchase of his BAni Gala residence from the money he claims to have acquired through the sale of the London flat.
Jahangir Tareen was defending the concealment of assets’ case too. It was reported during the hearing that Tareen’s company had his house servants on its board of directors. Tareen had also challenged two sections of the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) but Attorney General of Pakistan Ashtar Ausaf Ali told the court that Tareen had already been fined under the same law in 2008 and had also submitted that fine, so it was pointless to challenge the law some ten years after having complied with the penalty imposed under the same law.