ISLAMABAD: Casting doubt over the “continuous flow of millions of rupees as gifts” from Hussain Nawaz to his father Nawaz Sharif, the larger bench hearing the Panamagate case on Wednesday wondered if it was a scheme to whiten black money. The observation was made when counsel for the premier Makhdoom Ali Khan told the court that a total amount of Rs 510 million was gifted in four years. To this admission, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, who heads the five-judge larger bench, observed that it had been believed that people send money abroad through illegal means and then remit it back to the country in order to convert black money into white. Justice Ijazul Ahsan, another member of the bench, observed that the court wanted to know the source of the significant amount, and asked why the son was giving gifts to his father only. Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan observed that in our society parents give money to children, but situation in the instant matter was the opposite. Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed inquired how the business of Hussain Nawaz was started. He said there were hundreds of questions, but neither side was giving answers. “The court will dig out the truth.” Justice Saeed told Makhdoom that the court was not putting forward queries in “Persian language” – an expression used to indicate that the questions were simple and clear, and not incomprehensible. He further snubbed and told the counsel for the premier to present records. Makhdoom told the bench that the amount gifted to the premier by his son was sent through proper banking channels and had been disclosed in the tax returns. He said that Rs 129,836,905 were gifted in 2011, Rs 26,600,800 in 2012, Rs 190,445,024 in 2013 and Rs 197,499,000 gifted in 2014. Justice Saeed observed that the matter was regarding Neilson and Nescoll companies that are occupied by the family and thus “not generating money”. “The actual and important point is how this money is coming. Someone has to answer that,” Justice Saeed observed while referring to the gifts. When Justice Ahsan asked about the source of Hussain Nawaz’s income, Makhdoom said he was running businesses, including a steel mill in Jeddah, and his lawyer Salman Akram Raja would produce its record in his arguments. “Why there is a continuous flow [of gifts], let’s be logical,” Justice Ahsan again emphasised. To this, Makhdoom said if the question was ‘why’ then the answer would be ‘why not?’ Had it not been disclosed in the tax returns then there would have been a problem, he continued. Justice Ahsan wondered if it was a matter of rotation – to whiten the money. Regarding the agricultural land bought from the gifted amount, Makhdoom said that the premier had bought the land in the name of his daughter Maryam Safdar and also gave her Rs 30 million as a gift. He said the premier had declared in his income tax returns for the year 2011-12 that the land was owned by Maryam Safdar. “What was the need to purchase the land in the name of daughter,” asked Justice Khan, while Justice Khosa observed that it could be like “this is black money and Hussain Nawaz sent to Nawaz Sharif and then the father bought the land in the name of daughter Maryam Safdar”. During the hearing, Justice Khan also referred to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s confession mentioned in former interior minister Rehman Malik’s investigation report on the Sharif family’s money laundering in 1990s. To this, Makhdoom said the report was from 1999 to 2007, while allegations levelled by the petitioner regarding tax evasion were from 2011 onwards. Contending the dependency of Maryam Safdar on the premier, Makhdoom said that the daughter’s name was listed as a dependent in the tax forms because there was no other column on the sheet. Earlier, when the hearing resumed, the larger bench accepted the Jamaat-e-Islami’s petition seeking disqualification of the premier over Panama leaks.