Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) General Secretary Jahangir Khan Tareen on Thursday told the Supreme Court that his children were the beneficial owners of an offshore company.

During the hearing of a plea by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hanif Abbasi seeking Tareen’s disqualification, the PTI leader’s counsel Sikander Bashir told the apex court that his client created a trust in 2014 and his four children, including three daughters, were the beneficiaries of the trust deed.

The counsel further told the top court’s three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, that over £3.5 million were contributed by his client as a gift to his children through banking channels and that the amount has also been shown in their wealth records.

Later, the bench directed Bashir to submit the trust deed as well the tax returns of Tareen’s children, reflecting the complete record of gifts given to them by their father. Upon this, the counsel requested the bench to grant more time for submitting the relevant record.

Progress in the case remained sluggish as lawyers of both sides were called out by the Supreme Court on their lack of preparation.

After conceding that he did not have enough material regarding Tareen’s alleged offshore company, Abbasi’s counsel Azid Nafees accused the PTI member of evading taxes, hiding assets and getting loans written off. However, he could not present any solid evidence, which led the judges to ask whether the case belonged with the court or with other forums, such as the tax authorities.

Justice Faisal Arab also questioned whether Articles 62 and 63 could be applied to all members of the national and provincial assemblies in the same manner that the petitioner’s counsel was suggesting it be applied on Tareen.

The court was also dissatisfied with the lack of preparation by Tareen’s counsel who was advised by the chair of the bench and Chief Justice Saqib Nisar to be better prepared in the next hearing.

Allowing both parties to submit written replies and documents, the bench adjourned the case until further notice.

The CJP had observed on Wednesday that the apex court could not disqualify any parliamentarian on mere presumptions, saying the money was transferred via banking channels and the PTI leader paid taxes.

Published in Daily Times, July 28^th , 2017.