ISLAMABAD, Oct 12 (TNS): The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned hearing of a case regarding offshore companies of PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) General Secretary Jehangir Tareen till Tuesday.
A three-member SC bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Faisal Arab heard the case filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hanif Abbasi seeking disqualification of Jehangir Tareen for concealing of assets before Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), ownership of offshore company.
During the course of proceedings, Advocate Sikandar Mohmand counsel for Jahangir Tareen continuing his arguments from previous hearing said that his client had not concealed anything in his nomination papers.
He said that his client had declared his overall income in Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) tax return including agriculture income.
Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar remarked that whosoever received any income from leased land would be his agriculture income.
The bench also raised questions over discrepancy in Tareen income declared in nomination papers and shown in FBR tax returns.
Sikandar Bashir Mohmand argued that there was confusion in Punjab Agriculture Tax.
Chief Justice Saqib Nisar remarked that Tareen did not disclose his full income from agriculture to the Election Commission.
Mohmand said that his client did not hide anything in his nomination papers. He also informed the court that tax is not being levied on the contractor leased lands because the issue pertaining to tax of leased lands is pending for hearing at the relevant forum.
Justice Faisal Arab remarked that the relevant forum that Mehmand referred to is about the federal laws while tax on agriculture is a provincial issue.
Continuing his argument Mehmand told the court that Punjab Agricultural Authority has not issued any notice over this and that his client disclosed his overall income including the agri income to the FBR. Over this Chief Justice remarked that earnings from the leased land is considered agri income. The court is not is giving its final opinion but it is trying to understand the relavant laws, he added.
When Mehmand argued that agri income laws in Sindh are unambiguous but confusion over them persists in Punjab the chief justice told him that Tareen has not disclosed his full agri income to the Election Commission and he too has failed to satisfy the court that leased lands are not subjected to agri come.
On this the counsel of petitioner Hanif Abbasi Akram Shaikh argued that Tareen’s mala fide stands proved already.
Akram Shaikh further argued that the leased contracts of Tareen’s lands are not registered while money was laundered through the leased contracts.
The court directed Sikandar Mohamand to complete his arguments on next date of hearing and adjourned hearing of the case.
