SC decides on Imran, Tareen today

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court will announce today (Friday) its judgment on the petitions filed by PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi, seeking disqualification of PTI Chairman Imran Khan and Secretary-General Jehangir Tareen for non-disclosure of their assets and ownership of offshore companies abroad.

A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Umer Ata Bandial and Justice Faisal Arab will announce the much-awaited judgment at 2pm.

On November 14, the apex court had reserved its judgment after the counsels for the parties concerned concluded their arguments in rebuttal. The chief justice, while reserving the judgment, had observed that it should not be expected that the decision in the instant case will be issued so early. “This is a matter which will be decided after examining all the facts provided by the parties concerned,” he had observed.

The judgment is keenly awaited both by PML-N and PTI. The leaders of both parties will be in very tense, as the court is going to announce the verdict, deciding the political fate of the PTI chairman and its secretary general.

Similarly, the judgment in the instant case is also of immense interest for the PML-N which wants disqualification of Imran on the ground of misdeclaration.

Imran’s counsel Naeem Bukhari in his rebuttal on November 14 had contended before the court that his client could not be disqualified for not disclosing assets of his spouse in the nomination papers and that only nomination papers could be rejected. Imran committed a mistake but it wasn’t a misdeclaration.

He had further argued that the 2002 nomination papers of his client were never ever challenged anywhere.

Muhammad Akram Sheikh, counsel for the petitioner, however, had argued that in the judgment delivered in the Panama Paper’s case, the court had held that a person could be disqualified over misdeclaration.

The chief justice observed that so far whatever has been placed before them in the instant matter, the court would search out as to who is telling the truth.

He said many things were incorporated by the respondent (Imran Khan) in his replies without the permission of the court and “all of these are in our notice”.

“We will look into the matter while seeing the whole picture and to see whether this is dishonesty or not as it is the matter of honesty of a personality,” the chief justice had remarked, adding that two-thirds life of a judge passed in searching of the truth.

It is expected that the Court Room No 1 of the Supreme Court will be major source of attraction today (Friday) where the judgment on a high-profile case of political nature is being announced.