Shahzad Ahmad
LAHORE - Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Saturday told the Supreme Court that Aleema Khan, sister of Prime Minister Imran Khan, did not avail amnesty on her property in Dubai.
Inland Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner of Lahore Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed submitted a report before two-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar who was hearing the case in Supreme Court’s Lahore Registry.
The official said that Aleema Khan did not avail benefit of amnesty scheme on her property in Dubai. It said that she bought the flat by taking loan from a bank.
The apartment was sold after paying off the loan, he added. He said, “She did not seek tax amnesty on her apartment in Dubai and false reports are being run on media in this regard.”
He said that Aleema was issued a notice on February 8, 2018 for not declaring the property. However, she was not in the country at that time, he added. The chief justice directed to make the investigation against Aleema as part of the record and also asked about the status of notice being sent to her. Ordering that the investigation be made part of the record, the top court adjourned the hearing of the case till December 6.
Meanwhile, Aleema Khan, who is currently on a tour of Japan to raise funds for NUML University, while addressing an event in Tokyo, said, “I am being asked tough questions because I am in the headlines these days.”
“I am answerable to God and when the court summons me I will respond to their questions as well,” she added.
The premier’s sister further said that she was “not a public office-holder but an ordinary citizen” and “will reply where she has to”.
“I am being asked where I got the money from [to purchase property]. I inherited this money from my maternal and paternal grandfathers as well as my parents and even earned myself,” she continued.
Aleema, who is a board member of the Shaukat Khanum Hospital, added, “None of us board members have ever touched the money that has been raised and nor have we ever tried to earn money through the wrong means.”
The chief justice had taken suo motu notice of Aleema Khan’s property in Dubai on November 28. This month, she deposited half the total cost of her previously undeclared Dubai property with tax authorities as penalty.
Aleema paid 25 per cent of the total estimated amount of her luxurious flat, “The Lofts East-1406”, in taxes and 25 per cent fine charges, officials said. The prime minister’s sister was slapped with a double penalty (taxes and fine) because she did not disclose the said property worth around Rs74 million.
