ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has been asked to hear a case against the Federal Minister for Industries and Production Khusro Bakhtiar, and the Punjab Finance Minister Hashim Jawan Bakht regarding assets beyond means.
Muhammad Ahsan Abid on Monday filed an application for early hearing of his appeal against the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) verdict preferably in the week commencing from 31st May.
The IHC had dismissed Abid’s writ petition against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders.
The petitioner contented that the matter involved in the case is of fundamental rights and equality of law.
He maintained that Khusro Bakhtiar and Jawan Bakht have made countless assets beyond their source of income.
Ahsan Abid in December 2020 had filed an appeal in the Supreme Court under Article 185(3) of Constitution against the IHC, and made Prime Minister Imran Khan, chairman NAB, DG NAB Multan, Khusro Bakhtiar, and Hashim Jawan as respondents.
The petitioner is a voter of NA-177 Rahim Yar Khan and had contested general elections from the same constituency.
Ahsan Abid submitted that he had filed quo warranto writ petition under Article 199 of the Constitution in the IHC, which was dismissed on 20-10-2020.
He submitted he had also filed a complaint before the chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) regarding corruption and corrupt practice of Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar.
The chairman NAB forwarded the complaint to the DG NAB, Multan, for verification.
The petitioner claimed that according to the DG NAB report, prior to membership of the National Assembly, the whole family of Khusro Bakhtiar including his two brothers Omer Shehryar and Hashim Bakht owned 5,720 kanal agriculture land in District Rahim Yar Khan, which was the only source of their income.
However, after induction in the federal cabinet in 2004, the assets in the name of non-public office-holder members of the subject family ballooned to billions of rupees, despite their expenditure on more than 100 foreign trips and expenses on elections.
The subject accumulated assets in the name of his mother, brothers, and their wives which included sugar mills i.e. Etihad Sugar Mills in Rahim Yar Khan, Two Star Sugar Mills and Shahtaj Sugar Mills, five power generation companies, four capital investment companies and one ethanol processing plant.
The petitioner contended that Khusro’s family agriculture property increased from 5,702 kanals to 7,780 kanals, along with 6-7 residential houses, and plots in various cities of Pakistan. The family received a foreign remittance of approximately Rs797 million during 2011-2018.
The petitioner submitted that he sent applications to the Chief Justice of Pakistan, chairman and DG NAB and other authorities but no action was taken against Khusro Bakhtiar and his brother due to this political/official influence.
He told that then he filed a writ petition in the Islamabad High Court, which was dismissed on 20-10-2020.
Being aggrieved and dissatisfied by the IHC judgment, he preferred the instant appeal before the apex court.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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