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SC Resumes Jahangir Tareen Disqualification Case

Islamabad (October 24, 2017): Supreme Court on Tuesday resumed hearing of Jahangir Tareen disqualification case here.

A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar resumed hearing of the petition filed by PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi seeking disqualification of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leaders Imran Khan and Jahangir Tareen for non-disclosure of assets, concealing offshore companies and receiving funds for PTI from prohibited sources among other charges.

Jahangir Tareen counsel Sikander Bashir Mohmand is advancing arguments before the bench.

During Monday’s proceeding of the case, a Supreme Court judge observed that while Imran Khan and Jahangir Tareen were providing evidence in response to the court’s questions, the respondents in the Panama Papers case had not been as forthcoming, forcing the court to form a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to ascertain the facts.

The counsel for Mr Abbasi on Monday invited the attention of the court to what he termed “a perception” that this case was not being heard like the Panama Papers case was.

“A perception is being created that the court is providing opportunities to the other side to come up with more documents, even though the case has been closed now,” senior counsel Mohammad Akram Sheikh regretted.

But Justice Umar Ata Bandial — a member of the three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar — compared the Hanif Abbasi case with the Panama Papers case, saying that these cases were inquisitorial in nature. The court had asked many questions from the respondents and in response, they had provided several documents.In the Panama Papers case, the judge observed, the bench had also asked several questions but eventually had to refer the matter to the JIT because no response was forthcoming.

He added that the Panama Papers case would not be of much help to the counsel. “The Panama Papers case is now the law of the land,” Mr Sheikh shot back, reques­ting the court to guide him to the documents he should argue over.

However, the chief justice observed that the court had deliberately kept the matter open, since it wanted to ascertain whether the money to buy the Banigala properties came as per Mr Khan’s claims.

He said they had provided Mr Khan the opportunity to satisfy the court so it could reach a just conclusion, adding that they were not holding a trial, but inquisitorial proceedings.

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