ISLAMABAD Oct 5 (TNS): The Supreme Court will resume hearing the disqualification case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Khan Tareen today.
A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, resumed on Wednesday hearing of the petition filed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hanif Abbasi seeking disqualification of Tareen for non-disclosure of his assets and ownership of offshore companies.
Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar on Wednesday said the Supreme Court should have heard the case against PTI Chairman Imran Khan and Tareen along with the Panama Papers case.
During the hearing, the chief justice observed: “Why were the cases against Imran and Tareen kept separate from the central case?” He noted that while it had been reported that 38 hearings of the disqualification case had been held, “nobody talked about the caution and calm with which these hearings were conducted”.
“We do not want anybody to be wronged,” he added. He said no documentary proof have been provided to the court so far that could establish that Tareen, being a federal minister, had used his influence for bank loan write-offs. The chief justice observed that Parliament is supreme and they don’t want to lay down a law which could be used as sword of Damocles for parliamentarians in the future.
Justice Nisar said that parliamentarians are public representatives and they have great respect for them. He said the matter in hand is about the honesty of elected representative, so the court is searching to examine as to whether those who are in the government committed any corruption or misused their offices for their personal benefits.
The hearing was adjourned until today when Tareen’s counsel, Sikandar Bashir Mohmand, will continue his arguments.
