15 December 2017•Update: 15 December 2017
By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan
Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Friday rejected corruption and money laundering charges against an opposition leader and a former cricketing star Imran Khan, local media and court record said.
However, a three-member bench of the apex court led by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar disqualified Jahangir Tareen, general secretary of Khan’s Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI), for lifetime for being “dishonest” to the court, local Geo TV reported.
Tareen, a former federal minister, and a close aide of Khan, has been declared disqualified under article 62 of the constitution -- a same clause under which the three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif was disqualified -- in the whistleblower Panama papers case in July this year.
Tareen was also found guilty of concealing a London-based offshore company.
Hanif Abbasi, a parliamentarian and leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) had filed a petition in November last year, accusing the PTI leaders of money laundering, tax evasion, fake money trials and not declaring their assets to the country’s electoral body.
Abbasi also accused the opposition party of being a “foreign-funded” party.
The judges dismissed all the allegations relating to money laundering, tax evasion and fake money trails. However, they ordered the election commission to investigate the foreign funding allegations against the PTI.
“I am thankful to Allah”, a jubilant Khan told reporters in Karachi.
“There was no comparison between me and Nawaz Sharif. He is leader of corrupts, who looted our money and sent it abroad. Whereas, I have brought money back to Pakistan from abroad”.
He said the PTI would file a review petition against Tareen’s disqualification. “I am disappointed over his disqualification but I honor the court judgment.”
The ruling PML(N) has expressed dissatisfaction over the judgment.
“Jahangir Tareen has been sacrificed to save Imran Khan”, Danyal Aziz, federal minister for privatization told reporters outside the courtroom.
“The people of Pakistan ask (questions) about this political engineering “, an emotional Aziz said.
Information Minister Maryam Aurungzeb too criticized the apex court judgment, saying the judiciary had adopted double standards against her party and leaders.
“An elected prime minister has been disqualified for not receiving salary from his son, whereas a person who has received funds from Jews has been allowed to walk free.
“The case is not over yet. The election commission has been asked to investigate foreign funding charges against Imran Khan. This judgment is still to come”, she told reporters.
