PPP reacts to reports concerning Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari's asset details

KARACHI: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Saturday issued a statement to clear the air about the ambiguity and media reports concerning party chief  Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s asset details and the value of his residence, the Bilawal House.

The PPP chief’s spokesman Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, said that Bilawal Bhutto submitted income tax returns for the last three years with all his nomination papers, adding that all properties and businesses that have been declared by the PPP chief were inherited from his family.

“As for those questioning how Bilawal House Karachi is worth Rs3 million, it should be mentioned that Section 116 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, says: ‘All assets [whether purchased or inherited] should be valued at cost’. PPP Chairman inherited Bilawal House Karachi in early nineties and at that time, it was valued at Rs 3 million,” said the PPP chief’s spokesman.

It is pertinent to note here that a number of political opponents including Jamaat-e-Islami chief Sirajul Haq had objected to the worth of Bilawal House as mentioned in PPP chief’s nomination papers.

A section of media also questioned as to how a house located in one of Karachi’s posh areas can be so inexpensive.