ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday once again asked Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan to declare the financial source on the basis of which he purchased an apartment in London in 1983.
During the hearing of a petition filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hanif Abbasi, who sought disqualification of PTI chief as well as Secretary General Jahangir Tareen over alleged non-disclosure of their assets, ownership of offshore companies and receipt of foreign funds for the party, the bench also directed Imran Khan to submit mode of payment and the money trail for purchase of the flat.
PTI counsel Naeem Bukhari told the court the documents will be submitted before the next date of hearing. The court made it clear to PTI’s legal team that they can submit whatever documents they deem necessary to, but thereafter the court would not accept any further submission.
Chief Justice Main Saqib Nisar also observed that PTI chief Imran Khan was presenting the documentary evidence in ‘piecemeal’ to establish the money trail of his London flat and Bani Gala land.
“During the last hearing, you said I seemed angry. No, I am not angry. But I want to observe one thing that the documents are being provided in piecemeal,” Justice Nisar told PTI counsel Naeem Bukhari.
The CJP went on to observe that the petitioner’s counsel Akram Sheikh was rightly saying that all documentary evidences should be provided together. “The court wants to satisfy itself that whatever is said by the respondent [Imran Khan] to prove the money trail is true and that no money was laundered by him.”
The Supreme Court expressed its concerns over the litigations involving matters relating to disqualifications of members of National Assembly on the basis of alleged concealment and non-declaration of assets through offshore companies. “These are not the routine cases. We are announcing for press and the general public that we are anxious to dispose of such matters as soon as possible in the best interest of the institution (judiciary),” Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar observed.
The observation came following delay in filing of documents by PTI. When the hearing commenced, Naeem Bukhari apprised the bench that he had communicated the court’s message to Anwar Mansoor, counsel for PTI who is abroad for cardiac treatment.
When inquired by bench about filing of reply, which was supposed to be filed in a week, Faisal Chaudhary, assisting Mansoor in the case, informed the bench that half of the seven-year record had been procured while remaining part is yet to be received.
Published in Daily Times, July 14th , 2017.