Mehrangate scam: Sharifs to sue Younis Habib for defamation

Shahbaz Sharif claims Habib’s statements are contradictory.

LAHORE:

Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) Punjab President and provincial Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Wednesday said that he and his elder brother, party president Nawaz Sharif, will take legal action against Younis Habib over his claim of giving hefty amounts to them.

Addressing a press conference, Shahbaz said a draft is being prepared to sue Habib under the defamation act. He maintained that Habib changed his stance four times while levelling allegations against him. In Habib’s first claim, he gave Rs2.5 million directly to Shahbaz, while his second statement held that the amount was given to Asif Jamshed for the chief minister.  Shahbaz added that Habib, in the documents submitted under oath to the SC, did not mention his name. He said that if Jamshed had been issued money for him through wire transfer, then Habib should have presented the details of the transfer.

The party’s provincial president said that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government in 1994 made Jamshed the Managing Director of Punjab Bank. In 1997, when his party came to power, Shahbaz removed Jamshed from that position. Jamshed fled to New York subsequently.

Labelling both Jamshed and Habib PPP pawns, Shahbaz urged the SC to punish Habib over the distribution of billions of rupees among associates of Asif Ali Zardari.

Answering a question about the Sharifs’ loan from Mehran Bank, he said that they took Rs40.8 million in 1992 and returned the amount with interest as Rs100 million in 15 years. Shahbaz also provided the documents to the media.

Asked who else, apart from politicians, got the amount, Shahbaz replied that there are a lot of names which have not been highlighted yet. He was unwilling to disclose those names, but demanded that the SC do that instead.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2012.