SC adjourns Jehangir Tareen’s disqualification case till Wednesday
ISLAMABAD, (MILLAT ONLINE):The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned hearing of a case regarding offshore
companies of PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) General Secretary Jehangir Tareen
till Wednesday.
A three-member SC bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising
Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Faisal Arab heard the case filed by
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hanif Abbasi seeking the
disqualification of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and the
party’s secretary general Jahangir Tareen over non-disclosure of assets,
existence of offshore companies as well as the PTI being a foreign-aided party.
During the course of proceedings, Advocate Azid Nafees counsel for petitioner Hanif Abbasi argued that Jahangir Tareen
should be disqualified as he had engaged in insider trading and acquired income
through such activity. This is enough to declare Tareen dishonest, he added.
Advocate Nafees argued that the PTI leader had violated sections 15A (prohibition of
insider trading) and 15B (inside information) of the Securities and Exchange
Ordinance, 1969.
Upon this the chief justice asked does the violation of the law amount to dishonesty
and can the violation of every law be grounds for disqualification?
Advocate Nafees said that Jahangir Tareen was the director of a company when he violated
the laws. The chief justice asked how can the violation of every law be fitted
into the definition of dishonesty?
He further asked that after all these years, should the court disqualify someone
for violating the laws regarding business dealings? “We accept that laws
were violated, that mistakes were made but where did dishonesty come from?” he
added.
Advocate Nafees said that Jahangir Tareen had used his unlawful earning to pay off a
penalty to the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan on January 12,
2008.
On this Justice Umar Ata Bandial asked the counsel has fraud or a crime of any
sort been committed? The lawyer replied that insider trading was a crime
according to the law.
He said that the PTI leader had also provided incorrect information in his
nomination papers in 2013. “For that, he can be disqualified under Article
62, he can be disqualified for life,” the lawyer said.
Justice Umar Ata Bandial observed that insider trading does not have to be declared in
the election nomination papers.
Abbasi’s counsel argued that the disqualification has to be undertaken on the matter of
dishonesty and not over submission of nomination papers. He alleged that Jahangir
Tareen acquired illegal money.
The chief justice questioned the counsel whether every illegal act makes someone
dishonest. He remarked that these are new arguments for which Tareen’s counsel
Sikandar Bashir Mohmand’s opinion will be sought.
Meanwhile, hearing arguments of Akram Sheikh in Imran Khan disqulification case , the
chief justice remarked that judges are also working under the ambit of the law.
He remarked that election tribunals are the appropriate forum for resolving issues
with someone’s election.
During the hearing, the court also debated the grounds for
disqualification of lawmakers while deliberating what constitutes as dishonesty
as the counsel representing PML-N leader maintained that PTI leader Jahangir
Tareen had acquired illegal income through insider trading.