Disqualification case: Imran submits more documents to Supreme Court

ISLAMABAD (Monitoring Desk): Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Friday submitted to the Supreme Court documents detailing bank transactions in connection with his assets and accounts of his offshore company, Niazi Services Ltd.

The documents were submitted in reference to a case filed against Imran by PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi, which seeks the disqualification of Imran and PTI Secretary General Jahangir Tareen over the non-disclosure of assets, existence of offshore companies, as well as PTI being a foreign-aided party.

In a previous hearing, the SC had sought the money trail for Imran’s Bani Gala property and his London flat. Imran’s lawyer, Naeem Bokhari, had told the three-member bench hearing the case that documents to confirm the receipt of funds by his client from his former wife had been made available by the bank.

The documents submitted on Friday contain a receipt of 562,000 pounds paid out of the bank account of Imran’s offshore company, Niazi Services Ltd, to his ex-wife, Jemima Khan.

In a written response that accompanied the documents, Imran said that he had mentioned the transfer of the money from his account to Jemima’s in financial documents submitted before the Election Commission of Pakistan in 2003.

The reply maintained that the accounts of Niazi Services clearly showed that the loan Imran had taken from Jemima had been repaid. Documents of the receipt of the amount by Jemima from the Anglo Irish Bank were also furnished.

The documents also showed that Jemima had transferred 79,000 pounds as payment to Imran for the initial architectural plans for the Bani Gala residence. The amount had been brought into question by Abbasi’s lawyer, Akram Sheikh, in the previous hearing.

According to the documents, the 79,000 pounds were repaid to Jemima as part of the final transfer.

The documents also sought to provide clarification to the court regarding an amount of 99,000 pounds which had remained in the bank account of Niazi Services, and was inquired after by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar during the last hearing of the case.

The chief justice had noted that the details of the company’s bank account provided by the defence earlier had shown the balance to be zero. Later, however, the 99,000 pounds were shown. “We will have to see details regarding the sum,” the chief justice had said. ‘We are reviewing the integrity of a person.”

According to the documents, the remaining 99,000 pounds leftover in the bank account had been spent on legal matters. It was added that Imran had no more money to show in connection with the account of Niazi Services Ltd.

Imran’s reply to the petition argued that the PTI chief remained an MNA between 2002 to 2007 and during the said period, he did not receive anything from the said account, as there was no receivable amount.

By 2013, the money in the account had been spent so there was nothing to show in the financial documents for the 2013 elections.

A date for the next hearing has yet to be decided.