PM will quit if UK properties proven: Naseem

Lawyer says govt ready for FBR probe against Justice Isa’s family

Government counsel Dr Farogh Naseem told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that Prime Minister Imran Khan had offered to step down if it was proven that he owned properties in the UK.

The lawyer was responding to a statement submitted by Justice Qazi Faez Isa to a 10-judge full court, which is hearing a slew of petitions challenging a presidential reference filed against the judge for not disclosing his family’s offshore assets.

Naseem said not only had the prime minister offered to resign, but also allowed these assets to be confiscated and the money be deposited to the national exchequer if they existed.

He further told the court that Special Assistant to the PM on Accountability Shahzad Akbar did not possess any property in UK. Even former information minister Firdous Ashiq Khan had denied owning any property in the UK, he added.

Justice Umar Ata Bandial, who is heading the bench, noted that unfortunately both sides approached the media for publishing news.

However, Justice Maqbool Baqar told him that Justice Isa had not alleged that these public figures owned properties in the UK.

Naseem also told the bench that the PM had agreed to the bench’s proposal to initiate tax proceedings against Justice Isa’s family but with some conditions.

“The matter will be decided by a Federal Board of Revenue [FBR] commissioner within two months,” he added. “The petitioner and his wife will be asked to cooperate with the FBR.”

A day earlier, the court had advised the federal government to follow the “due process” of initiating tax proceedings against Justice Isa’s family, noting that there were several flaws in the presidential reference against the judge and so the case could be struck down.

Justice Isa’s attorney Muneer A Malik said the judge had faced a smear campaign for the last 13 months. He added that the judge had sought judgment on merit as he did not want to sit in a bench with a perception that he and his wife were tax evaders. In view of Malik’s statement, the bench will give a ruling on merit.

Justice Bandial noted that judges are accountable in financial matters. “We are accountable in private and public life,” he added.

When Dr Farogh Naseem said the court quashed the reference against former Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudhry on mala fide grounds as the then government had called the SJC members on special planes to initiate misconduct proceedings, Justice Baqar said mala fide facts were more serious in Justice Isa case.

He also said unfettered power cannot be given to executive to file reference without solid material.

“This country has a history of subversion of constitution by the executive. All institutions including the judiciary have been trampled. We don't want to live in wrong side of history.

“Neither we are against any individual nor any institution. We will not hesitate to give our sacrifice for the supremacy of law and independence of judiciary,” he added.