PTI Jahangir Tareen disqualified by Supreme Court

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday disqualified Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Jahangir Tareen but ruled in favour of PTI Chairperson Imran Khan in its judgment on the disqualification case against the two party leaders.

The three-member bench had reserved the verdict in the disqualification petition against the two PTI leaders on November 14.

The decision was expected to be announced at 2pm today but took around an hour-and-a-half’s delay.

As the judges took their seats, Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian Saqib Nisar apologised for the delay and explained that there was a mistake on one page so all 250 pages of the judgment had to be read again.

He remarked further that the judgment should be heard with patience, adding that all the evidence was examined carefully.

Reading the judgment, the chief justice ruled that Imran is not disqualified as a parliamentarian as the petitioner was not directly affected in the foreign funding case.

The court also ruled that the ECP will impartially investigate the foreign funding claims against the PTI chief by scrutinising accounts up till five years ago.

The judgment states that Imran wasn’t bound to declare his offshore company, declared his London flat in an amnesty scheme and that his former wife Jemima gave Imran the funds for buying the Bani Gala estate.

Jahangir Tareen disqualified from Parliament

With regards to Tareen, the judgment stated that the PTI secretary general had pleaded guilty to insider trading.

Tareen cannot be termed honest and stands disqualified for life as per Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution, according to the Supreme Court judgment.

Article 62(1)(f) reads: “A person shall not be qualified to be elected or chosen as a member of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) unless-…he is sagacious, righteous and non-profligate, honest and ameen, there being no declaration to the contrary by a court of law.”

Moreover, the court ruled that Tareen used suspicious terms in his statements to the court.

It was also stated in the judgment that the court is not announcing its decision on Tareen’s agriculture land matter.

Tareen did not declare his offshore company, the court stated.

All eyes on Supreme Court

Imran was in Karachi on party business but has now left for the airport. According to reports, Tareen had left for Islamabad from Karachi on Thursday evening. The party had planned a publich gathering in Tando Mohammad Khan today.

However, other PTI leaders were present in the court for the verdict.

Similarly, senior leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), including the petitioner of the case Hanif Abbasi, were also present in the packed courtroom.

Several workers of both parties were present outside the court and chanting slogans in their favour. A heavy police contingent was also present to control the situation in case of any adverse development.

Walking into the court, PTI leader Firdous Ashiq Awan said the “rule of law will prevail” today.

State Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb made similar comments while entering the court.