RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Hanif Abbasi Monday claimed that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan’s record submitted before the apex court has a number of discrepancies.

Hanif Abbasi had filed a petition before the Supreme Court with a plea to disqualify the PTI Chairman Imran Khan and the party General Secretary Jehangir Khan Tareen from the Parliament over alleged tax evasion and misdeclaration before Election Commission of Pakistan.

Highlighting discrepancies in various pleadings submitted by Imran Khan, a day before the matter is fixed for hearing before a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, Abbasi’s counsel claimed that Imran Khan purchased the land for himself in the name of Jemima Khan.

Discussing relationship/status of Jemima Khan with regard to purchase of Banigala land, counsel for Abbasi said, “In his initial concise statement titled CMA 7925/2016, the respondent # 1 (Imran Khan) claimed that he bought the Banigala land for himself, and Jemima Khan remitted funds for the land as a loan. He has made no reference that any land was being purchased for the benefit of Jemima Khan. The entire tenor is that the respondent was purchasing the land for himself, but in the name of Jemima Khan.”

While highlighting another “discrepancy” regarding Rs6.5 million paid by Imran Khan for Banigala property, Akram Sheikh said that in his wealth statement for the years ending June 2002 filed before the Federal Board of Revenue, Imran Khan had accounted for Rs6.5 million as a gift to his then wife Jemima Khan. However, Sheikh said that in his nomination form filed in the year 2002, Imran Khan had declared the same amount to be an “advance”, and the column pertaining to gifts does not find any mention of the said sum.

Imran Khan had said in an initial concise statement before the apex court that Niazi Services Limited (NSL) was dormant after sale of London flat upon which the Abbasi’s counsel submitted that it has now come to light the NSL was functional and actively working to secure various interests of Imran Khan such as making payments to lawyers, conducting litigation pertaining to the flat, and paying off his debts until 2012.

Regarding the NSL euro account, Sheikh submitted that a functional euro account of NSL has also come to light, which finds no mention in any of the Imran Khan’s previous pleadings. “It is pertinent to note in this regard that the statement of euro account provided by the respondent # 1 pertains to the period starting from January 2007 till August 2012, which is the same time that he was not an elected member of the national or provincial assembly; therefore, it seems like a deliberate act to conceal the account details pertaining to the period before and after, as any funds in this account would also had to be declared by the respondent # 1 to the ECP in his statements filed during his membership of the National Assembly in the years 2003-2006, and 2013-2015. It is noteworthy, that on 1st January, 2007, before any funds from the defaulting tenant was received, the said account possessed an opening balance of euros 8,141,” the counsel for Abbasi said.

Sheikh further argued that about outcome of the litigation against the tenant of the London flat, Imran Khan asserted in his affidavit that the NSL was kept alive due to the litigation against the tenant, saying despite an award for unpaid rent and costs against the tenant, nothing was recovered.

Regarding receipt of funds by Imran Khan from the NSL, Sheikh said that Khan has claimed multiple times that from the sale proceeds of the flat, after the return of loan to Jemima and a payment to T Nawaz, a sum of GBP 100,000 was retained by the NSL to meet the legal cost of litigation against the tenant and other costs associated with running the company, and eventually, the same was entirely dissolved. Sheikh said Khan claimed that nothing out of the sale proceeds of the London flat was received or receivable by him and the entire amount had been spent by the shareholders and directors of the NSL. “However, after merely 10 days, the respondent # 1 had filed CMA # 7012/2017 wherein he admits that after the delivery of judgment by the appellate court, a sum of GBP 40,000 was remitted by the NSL to the respondent # 1 on 15.05.2004,” Sheikh said.

Sheikh also “pointed out” a number of discrepancies in the pleadings of Imran Khan including value/cost of the London flat at the time of purchase, mortgage, payment for the Banigala land by one Rashid Ali Khan, remittances for Banigala land, regarding start of cricket career, return of money to Jemima Khan, date of purchase of London flat, payment from Kerry Packer series, conversion rate of dollars to pounds in the years 1977-1979, leftover money after repayment of loan to Jemima and failure to declare payment of installment for a flat in One Constitutional Avenue, Islamabad, in assets.