ISLAMABAD (Monitoring Desk): Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan called on the party’s secretary general and disqualified MNA Jahangir Tareen on Saturday.
The PTI chief was cleared while Tareen had to face the axe by the Supreme Court on Friday (yesterday) when the court announced its verdict in the disqualification case against the two leaders.
A high-level party huddle is also expected at Imran’s Bani Gala residence today to discuss the future course of action following Tareen’s disqualification.
The party’s legal team will brief leaders on the details of the Supreme Court judgment, shared sources.
On Friday, Media News reported that Tareen has decided to step down from his party post.
Sources said Tareen decided to step down from the party post during his meetings with PTI members. PTI MNA from Islamabad, Asad Umar, remains a strong contender to replace Tareen, sources added.
Earlier in the day, PTI spokesman Fawad Chaudhry had said that Imran directed Tareen to continue performing duties as the secretary general of the party.
The Supreme Court, in its judgment on Friday, ruled that Tareen cannot be termed honest and stands disqualified for life as per Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution. It also said the PTI leader used suspicious terms in his statements to the court, besides not declaring his offshore company.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Saqib Nisar, who headed the three-member Supreme Court bench hearing the case, ruled that Imran is not disqualified as a parliamentarian as the petitioner was not directly affected in the foreign funding case.
The court also ruled that the ECP will impartially investigate the foreign funding claims against the PTI chief by scrutinising accounts up till five years ago.
The judgment stated that Imran wasn’t bound to declare his offshore company, declared his London flat in an amnesty scheme and that his former wife Jemima gave him the funds for buying the Bani Gala estate.
