Multiple probes into sugar scam: Will Tareen come back?

ISLAMABAD: Will senior leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Jahangir Tareen come back to Pakistan from Britain in the near future to face a host of investigations and inquiries, referred to different agencies by the government on the basis of the findings of the sugar commission?

After his arrival in London nearly two weeks ago, he, while referring to speculations in the media about his trip to Britain, tweeted that there is nothing to worry about. “Since I recovered from my illness in 2014, I have to have regular biannual checkups with my doctors in the UK. I will get a clean bill of health and be back soon.” However, he did not give a timeframe to travel back to Pakistan and left his programme open-ended. But a general impression is that he will return but it can’t be said when. He will come back on the time of his choosing. In his absence, he and other sugar mills owners have challenged the report of the sugar commission in the Islamabad High Court (IHC). As Tareen stays put at his sprawling estate in London, his archrival, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), has launched a barrage of attacks on him, accusing the government of allowing him to slip out of Pakistan when he was required here for a host of investigations and inquiries. The PTI is repudiating such claims but none from it has defended Tareen as far as the sugar scam is concerned. It is an open secret that he has been one of the prime architects of the PTI’s victory in the 2018 general elections by weaning away a multitude of ‘electables’ to its fold from other political parties. The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) too has taken exception to Tareen’s departure from Pakistan, but its tirade is less severe than that of the PML-N with which he was associated for quite some time before joining the PTI. At one time, he worked very closely with the then Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif.