Why did Rs10 bn offer made after SC reserved judgment?

ISLAMABAD: The timeline pertaining to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s Rs10b bribery allegation when read with timeframe of the Supreme Court proceedings and judgment in the Panama case evokes interest and attracts attention.

On April 25, he alleged that a businessman, who is his and Sharifs’ common friend, discussed with him an offer of Rs10b from the Sharif family in exchange for keeping mum on the Panama case during a meeting with  him two weeks back, meaning on April 11, that he rejected. He also said the offer was conveyed to the businessman by Hamza Sharif two months ago.

It is known that the top court reserved its judgment on February 23 this year after exhaustive hearings for months. After this, the matter was in the hands of the five judges to decide, and obviously neither Imran Khan nor any of the defendants has any role left to play. Even if the offer was communicated to him at this stage, it would not have created any impact on the case as the matter was out of his control.

The verdict was released on April 20, and five days after its announcement the PTI chairman talked about the bribery offer. The question that he should give up the case, accepting the hefty monetary consideration, and remain silent on it did not arise after that, as he himself and his lawyers had already put up a grand fight in the courtroom against the Sharif family.

The yet-to-be-named businessman, who allegedly brought the offer, kept it to himself for some six weeks and did not inform Imran Khan about it, as per the PTI chairman’s assertion.

No such accusation surfaced from the PTI chairman during the prolonged proceedings of the Panama case. It was started on November 1 last year under the chairmanship of outgoing Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali. Ahead of a few days of his retirement, the top judge had adjourned the hearing on December 9 till the first week of January this year.

The new bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa opened proceedings on January 4 and held day-to-day hearings till its conclusion on Feb 23 when the judgment was reserved. After fifty-seven days, the ruling was announced on April 20.

Thus, with breaks the hearings continued for almost six months during which both sides contested furiously but no offer of bribe was claimed by Imran Khan.

He did not say why the offer was made after the decision had been reserved and why not when the proceedings were being conducted, which was perhaps the appropriate time to back down by him withdrawing his petition from the apex court. He did not say that the businessman asked him to keep quiet after the verdict has been announced.

The PTI chairman also claimed that the businessman was offered Rs2b for brokering the deal and the Rs10b amount was not the total payment that was to be made to him. He made it clear that the rulers (Sharifs) did not directly convey the offer to him. The businessman was a friend of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Hamza, who had asked him to make the offer.