Jahangir Tareen directed to submit tax returns, offshore company details

ISLAMABAD: The three-member bench of Supreme Court on Thursday noted that the disqualification petition against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Jahangir Khan Tareen over non disclosure of funds collection, assets and offshore company required further investigation same as the Panama Papers probe.

The bench was hearing a petition filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hanif Abbasi seeking disqualification of PTI chairman Imran Khan and Tareen over non disclosure of assets, offshore companies, and receiving funds from prohibited sources for the party.

As the hearing resumed on Thursday, PML-N Hanif Abbasi’s counsel began presenting his arguments to the court.

Abbasi’s counsel apprised the bench that Tareen declared his agriculture revenue Rs540 million to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) whereas the same source of revenue was shown Rs120 million to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

To which the bench, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, queried the petitioner’s counsel about evidences with regard to Tareen’s offshore properties.

The three-member bench is headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and comprises Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Faisal Arab.

Justice Umar Ata Bandial observed that the petitioner has not provided any material relating Tareen’s offshore company. He queried the motive behind bringing the matter of offshore company forward without having sufficient evidences corroborating the petitioner’s claims.

Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar said: “It is the matter between income tax authorities and Tareen if he has not paid the due income tax [as per the annual income]”.

He said this is not the concern of top court and the bench is merely concerned taking up issue of being ‘Sadiq’ (truthful) and ‘Amin’ (trustworthy) in the petition against Mr. Tareen.

Adjourning the hearing, the three-judge bench directed the PTI general secretary to submit all documents at once including his children’s income tax returns and offshore company details within 10 days.

On Wednesday, the apex court directed the counsel of PTI secretary general Jahangir Tareen to provide details of his trust and an offshore company which, he says, was registered in the name of his children.

The bench directed Tareen’s counsel to explain how and when the trust was formed, when the offshore company came into existence and who was the beneficial owner of the company and whether gifts to the tune of millions of rupees to him by his family and vice versa constituted any offence.

Hanif Abbasi had moved the apex court seeking disqualification of both the PTI leaders from membership of the National Assembly. The court was further pleaded to declare them ineligible to hold any office of a political party under the Political Parties Order 2002.

PML-N leader claimed that Jahangir misstated his income for the tax year 2010-11 and willfully and fraudulently concealed the fact that he owns an offshore company.

Whereas, Khan did not declare his offshore company – Niazi Services Limited (NSL) – in his statement of assets and liabilities submitted to the ECP in his nomination papers in the 2013 general elections.

NSL owned a flat at Draycott Avenue in London which he had purchased in 1984 and the flat remained undeclared until the Pakistan government announced an amnesty scheme in 2000.