SC questions veracity of docs submitted by Imran, Tareen

Islamabad, Oct 18: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leadership has faced another tough time in the Supreme Court as a bench questioned the veracity of documents and testimony provided to it by Imran Khan and Jahangir Tareen. The top court raised questions on Tuesday over the banking records of PTI chief Imran Khan’s offshore company Niazi Services Limited (NSL). Likewise, it is apparently dissatisfied with the stance of PTI General Secretary Jahangir Tareen regarding his lease-holding of 18,566 acres. The court is consistently observing that it is examining the honesty of both PTI leaders, The Express Tribune has reported. A lawyer in attendance during court proceedings said the bench might ask for a further probe to determine precise details of the NSL accounts after transactions involving Khan’s London flat. Likewise, it also hinted at ordering an inquiry to verify Tareen’s claims regarding his holding of leased land. The three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, has sought a reply within a week from petitioner Hanif Abbasi over Imran Khan’s fresh application, wherein details of the bank account of NSL have been provided. Naeem Bukhari, counsel for Khan, had submitted on Monday a revised concise statement on behalf of his client regarding the roughly £100,000 available in NSL’s accounts. The documents show that the offshore company was also operating a euro account. The bank statement reveals that the account for NSL was active well after the sale of Khan’s London flat and money was transferred to him in the fiscal year 2007-08. The chief justice on Tuesday said that authenticity of the documents was still being challenged, adding that these documents should have been submitted earlier. “You are trying to set up a new case,” he added. The CJP observed that there was no consistency in Khan’s documents. The bench noted that Khan still had not provided records of instructions given to accountant Tahir Nawaz regarding the transfer of money from the offshore company. It also said that there was no written agreement among shareholders of the NSL about the allocation of money for the expenditure on litigation. The court asked whether Khan had disclosed before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) the £40,000 remittance to him from the NSL account on May 17, 2004, which he claimed was not in his knowledge earlier. Justice Umar Ata Bandial pointed out that there was another discovery in Khan’s fresh application regarding the payment of £35,000 in annual fees, which was also highlighted by petitioner’s counsel Akram Sheikh. He wondered how the expenses came about as the NSL did not own any property after the sale of the London flat. Likewise, Justice Bandial observed that there was no record of the £27,000 available in the NSL account. On the other hand, Naeem Bukhari said there was need to consider that the money had not been transferred abroad from Pakistan and whatever happened had been done through formal banking channels. Regarding Tareen’s case, the chief justice observed that he had no official proof to establish that he had cultivated over 18,000 acres. UNI