Supreme Court on Monday observed that presumptions are not sufficient grounds to disqualify a member of the Parliament. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar observed while hearing PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi's plea seeking PTI's Imran Khan's and Jahangir Khan's disqualification form the Parliament on grounds that the PTI had received funds from prohibited sources.
Advancing arguments before the bench, Akram Sheikh, the counsel for Abbasi, contended that Niazi Services Limited (NSL) was owned by three companies, adding that instead of one offshore company Khan owned three companies. Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar asked if the petitioner's counsel means to say that Imran Khan never declared the NSL in the wealth return under Wealth Tax Act, 1963, though the NSL was established in 1982 and the PTI chief became an income tax filer in 1983.
Responding to the Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar's query, Akram Sheikh submitted that omission in the wealth return amounts to deliberate misconduct, mis-declaration which renders Imran Khan guilty of disqualification for non-honesty, non-trustworthy and non-sagacious.
Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar observed that there is no disqualification envisaged in the Income Tax law whereas a member of the bench Justice Atta Bandial remarked that the matter in hand is about the capital asset. Responding to the request of Abbasi's counsel for court directives to summon the record of Imran Khan's income tax and the wealth tax return statements from the Federal Board of Revenue, the bench asked him to file an application for the purpose. Sheikh alleged that Imran Khan gave contradictory statements regarding the ownership of a flat in London saying at one point he called himself the absolute owner of the flat, later he called himself beneficial owner of the flat.
Akram Sheikh also filed an application on behalf of his client Hanif Abbasi urging the court to direct Imran Khan to provide the bank statement of account No 9010327943 with Citibank, Islamabad on the name of Rashid Ali Khan from March 2002 to January 2003.
He urged the court to seek details from Imran Khan about the bank statements of Jemima Khan's accounts in the United Kingdom and remittance confirmations issued by Jemima Khan's banks in the United Kingdom equivalent to US $ 660,693 as well as his own bank statements of March 2003.
He also requested the court to ask Imran Khan to submit his income tax and wealth tax returns for the financial years 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 before the court. Sheikh requested the court to issue directives to Khan for a copy of the bank statement of Imran Khan's account in UK of April 2003 to December 2003, or correspondingly deposit confirmation of the amount of US $ 660,693 to the account or accounts of Jemima Khan in the United Kingdom. The court asked the PTI counsel to examine the application of the PML-N leader and adjourned the hearing of matter till May 09.