ISLAMABAD - PTI chief Imran Khan yesterday moved the Supreme Court for ordering a probe into Panama leaks and disqualifying Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Last week, JI chief Sirajul Haq approached the apex court for initiating inquiries against those whose names appeared in the Panama Papers. However, the Registrar Office returned his application, calling it frivolous under the Supreme Court Rules.
Khan’s lawyers Hamid Khan, Naeem Bukhari and others filed the petition under the Article 184(3) of constitution, calling for unseating PM, his son-in-law Capt (r) Muhammad Safdar and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.
The petitioner asked the court to direct the interior ministry secretary to place PM Nawaz and his family members on the Exit Control List. He sought directives for recovery of looted/laundered money along with properties purchased through foreign firms.
The petitioner made respondents Nawaz, Maryam Nawaz, Hassan Nawaz, Hussain Nawaz, Safdar, Ishaq Dar, NAB chairman, secretaries of ministries of law interior; and FBR chairman.
The PTI chief contended that the PM, his family members and Dar “have been identified money launderer, currently smugglers, pursuance of extremely expensive foreign properties in the name of minor children, setting up offshore companies in British Virgin Islands and other secret heaven, setting up bogus foreign currency accounts, flouting all legal contacts over foreign declarations and setting up Gulf Steel Mills in Dubai during the Bhutto era without ever disclosing the manner of transferring the money to Dubai and selling them the same admittedly for $ 9 million, holding that amount without declaration, building Azizia Steel Mills in Jeddah, claiming wrongly that the London properties were purchased their sale of Azizia Steel Mills”.
He alleged the premier repeatedly gave false declaration of assets, hiding assets, completely failing to pay taxes and dues, lying on the floor of the house, hushing their criminalities through connivance with NAB and FBR, raising their assets from 1 Foundry to 29 entities, becoming one of the largest entrepreneurs in the country.
“They have looted the wealth of Pakistan which belongs to the people of Pakistan. The apex court is the last hope of the people of Pakistan and only, it can throw away this yolk of corruption.”
Khan also referred to Article 62 (d) and (f) of the constitution as well as Article 63 (1) and (p) relating to qualification and disqualification of a person from being elected to the national assembly.
“The failure of Nawaz and Capt (r) Safdar to correctly disclose their assets or of their dependents, prima facie establishes disloyalty to the state, disobedience to the constitution and laws applicable to him. The default in payments of taxes, the evasion of taxes, false declaration of assets renders Nawaz disqualified as member of the national assembly and as a consequence, the prime minister. The non-disclosure of receipt of huge amount by his spouse, disqualify Safdar while the confessional statement of Dar disqualify him too.”The petitioner made request to the court for directing NAB chairman to discharge his obligation under the Section 18 read with Section 9 of the NAB Ordinance 1999 and complete investigation in mega corruption cases pending for the last 15 years.
The PTI chief urged the court to order NAB and FBR chairmen to probe and minutely scrutinise the tax returns and assets declaration of the respondents.
Similarly, the court was prayed to direct NAB and FBR to initiate claims on behalf of the government for recovery of the properties in question.
PTI petition in SC carries no new allegation: Pervaiz
Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage, Senator Pervaiz Rashid Monday said the petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) in the Supreme Court had no new allegation.
All allegations levelled in the petition were old and had been repeated in the last 25 years and proved as false, he said.
Talking to a private news channel here, he said no allegation relate to any project under the tenure of any government of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), rather they relate to the personal business of the party leader Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.
He said the PML-N chief had been elected as the Prime Minister of Pakistan three times and had completed a number of development projects worth billions of dollars in his every tenure.
PTI Chief Imran Khan, who had crossed all limits in enmity of PML-N, had failed to level allegation in his petition regarding any kind of corruption, mismanagement or kickbacks in any project of the incumbent government, he said.
He said the PTI’s recent petition was a certificate of honesty for Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.
The minister said Imran Khan who had approached the apex court should trust the judicial system and wait for the verdict.
The PTI chief should not spread chaos in the streets on the basis of his so called allegations before the court verdict comes, he said. The protests on roads reflected Imran’s lack of confidence in judiciary, which may come into the meaning of contempt of court also.
The three previous governments including two regimes of Benazir Bhutto and one of Pervez Musharraf had failed to prove the same allegations, he added.
He said if Pervez Musharraf could be able to prove these allegations then he would not have used the plane hijacking case.
The federal minister said the family of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had set up a factory in the UAE which was inaugurated by the head of UAE after the industry of Prime Minister’s family in Pakistan was nationalized in 1972, during the first regime of PPP.
This business was not hidden as its pictures were published in newspapers, he said.
The then government could have filed a case against this family if some illegality was found in that process, he said, adding at that time Muhammad Nawaz Sharif was a student and his family was not participating in politics.