ISLAMABAD – Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hanif Abbasi on Saturday submitted documents regarding tax returns of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan in the top court pertaining to the latter’s disqualification case.
According to Abbasi, the fresh documents are presented to prove that Khan misrepresented his financial details in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) as he neither mentioned his London flat nor the loan procured from his ex-wife Jemima Goldsmith in the statements of assets and liabilities from 2004 onward submitted to the election regulator.
The apex court will come under the spotlight once again when a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar will resume hearing the case on Tuesday, Sept 26.
At the last hearing on Sept 12, a three-judge SC bench, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, had highlighted certain gaps in Mr Khan’s money trail leading to the purchase of Banigala estate.
In his petition, the Rawalpindi-based leader has sought the disqualification of Imran Khan and PTI secretary general Jahangir Khan Tareen for non-disclosure of assets, ownership of offshore companies as well as foreign-funding of the party.
At the previous hearing, the Supreme Court had questioned whether Mr Khan, who is contesting elections since 1997, had ever declared loan worth over Rs40 million he got from his ex-wife for the purchase of Banigala property in his statements of assets before the ECP and income tax returns .
The counsel for plaintiff Mohammad Akram Sheikh had recalled that during the hearing the court had directed Imran Khan to place on record all statements of assets and liabilities, with an observation that this was a public record and could be obtained from the commission after payment of requisite fee.
Pursuant to the observation, he said, he had submitted to the ECP a letter asking for the nomination papers, along with a list of statement of assets and liabilities of 1997 elections.
According to the list of assets and liabilities, the counsel said, the PTI chief had not declared any document which narrated disclosure of major transactions such as sale of his London Draycott Aveneue flat, acquisition of Banigala property, setting up of offshore company Niazi Services Limited.
“Although Mr Khan had in 2002 obtained tax amnesty for Rs2m as purchase value of his London flat which in fact was purchased by his offshore company NSL” Sheikh claimed.
