Imran cleared, Sharif family gets breather

ISLAMABAD : Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Friday rejected a petition seeking the disqualification of cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan as an MP for not declaring his assets, but disqualified his close aide Jahangir Tareen for life.

In a separate case, the apex court rejected an appeal by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), t he anti-corruption watchdog, to reopen a Rs 1.2-billion money laundering case against former premier Nawaz Sharif and members of his family.

An adverse ruling in both cases would have rendered Khan, head of the Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf party, and Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif ineligible for next year’s general election. Shehbaz Sharif is set to be the PML-N’S prime ministerial candidate following the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif in July.

Chief Justice Saqib Nisar said Khan was not liable to disclose the existence of an offshore company in his 2013 nomination papers as he wasn’t a shareholder. He said Khan had submitted all the information sought from him and only a small amount of the money trail sent by his ex-wife was unaccounted for.

The bench found Tareen dishonest under provisions of the Constitution and The Representation of the People Act, and said the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan should have taken action against him for insider trading.

A Tehreek-e-insaf spokesman said Tareen was disqualified on “technical grounds” in connection with his home in the UK.