Jahangir Tareen takes PM to court over Panama leaks

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Jahangir Tareen has filed a petition in the Lahore High Court, seeking disqualification of the prime minister over the involvement of his family members in offshore businesses.

In the constitutional petition, the PTI leader has submitted the Panama Papers had revealed the massive corruption of the ruling elite, confirming the Sharif family was involved in money laundering.



The petitioner contended a reference was sent to the National Assembly speaker against the premier but the former dismissed the reference instead of referring it to the election commission.

The premier, he argued, was not eligible to hold any public office as he did not qualify under articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution. The petitioner requested the court to set aside the order of the NA speaker and to order the election authorities to disqualify the PM.

Last week, the Supreme Court issued a notice to PM Nawaz and others over petitions seeking his disqualification on account of Panama Papers leaks.

On August 28, Hamid Khan and Naeem Bukhari filed a constitutional petition on behalf of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairperson Imran Khan. The petition sought disqualification of PM and members of his family for their alleged involvement in Panama Papers scandal.

Meanwhile, the three-judge bench led by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali rejected Watan Party’s plea not to form the commission to probing the leaks.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 27^th, 2016.