Trust deed documents might get Tareen in trouble

Hearing of PML-N petition to resume on Nov 7

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) general secretary Jahangir Tareen has submitted a ‘trust deed’ to the Supreme Court regarding the ownership of a 12-acre property in the UK.

Tareen is facing a disqualification petition filed by PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi over alleged non-declaration of assets. The top court is schedule to resume hearing of the petition on November 7.

Tareen’s attorney Sikandar Bashir Mohmand submitted the trust deed comprising 37 pages. The documents are being considered vital for deciding Tareen’s fate.



According to the documents, Tareen is a ‘settler’ for a trust which in turn runs an offshore company, Shiny View Limited, and owns 12 acres of property in the UK. According to the original trust deed, HSBC Bank (Pvt) Ltd is the trustee. The trust was created for 150 years in May 2011.

The documents, however, also reveal that Tareen and his wife are the trust’s ‘discretionary lifetime beneficiaries’. They also state that the settler, Tareen, may direct the trustees to transfer the income from the trust fund to any one or more of the discretionary beneficiaries including him.

The documents also elaborate that in case Tareen passes, his wife, children and grandchildren will be named the discretionary beneficiaries.



“All such directions shall be treated as revocable unless expressed to be irrevocable and shall continue until the settler dies or becomes incapacitated or (where the direction is revocable) the settler revokes the direction personally. Until and subject to and in default of any such directions the Trustees may, during the Trust period, pay or apply the income of the Trust Fund to, or for the benefit of, all or any others of them, that are for the time being in existence and in whatever shares, if more than one and in whatever manner generally that the Trustees may in their absolute discretion think fit.” says the trust deed.

In other words, the trustees, or the bank, during the trust period may pay the whole or part of the capital from the trust fund to all or any of the discretionary beneficiaries at their discretion. It further states that the bank also has the power to grant a pledge or other security, over the trust fund assets to secure any payment obligation from a discretionary lifetime beneficiary, unless the trustees are otherwise satisfied that the transaction was for the direct benefit of the discretionary lifetime beneficiary while also having the power to waive or release any express or implied right of subrogation against the relevant debtor.

The PML-N legal team is claiming that Tareen will be disqualified as he had not disclosed the property in UK while filing nomination papers before the Election Commission of Pakistan.



A member of the PTI’s legal team, however, believes that there is a stark difference between being a ‘discretionary beneficiary’ and a ‘beneficial owner’, adding that Tareen is no longer the legal owner of the trust as it is owned by the bank. Tareen has already provided a copy of a UK court judgment, establishing the legality of the trust and his claim that he is not a beneficial owner, says the legal team members.

According to him, unlike Tareen, Maryam Nawaz was actually a beneficial owner of a flat in London.

Legal experts believe that the SC’s interpretation on ‘discretionary lifetime beneficiary’ will be significant in this case.