Imran, Nawaz cases similar but judgement differed: Shehbaz Sharif

KARACHI: Chief Minister Punjab Shebaz Sharif on Friday said that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's Panama Papers case and Imran Khan's disqualification case are similar but the judgement differed in both the cases.  

He added that space for a review petition does exist in the verdict passed by the Supreme Court in Imran Khan's case.

"The Supreme Court gave its judgment, look at the Panama case and this [Imran Khan's] case, both cases have a lot of similarities," said Shehbaz. 

The chief minister also said that it is their legal right to expose the loopholes and file a review petition. 

Shehbaz's remarks come after the Supreme Court disqualified Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Jahangir Tareen but ruled in favour of PTI Chairperson Imran Khan in its judgment on the disqualification case against the two party leaders.

The chief minister was speaking on Geo News programme Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath on Friday. 

Further criticising Imran, Shehbaz said the PTI leader is surrounded by those who are "corrupt from head to toe".

He also said that Jahangir Tareen benefited from the offshore company and PTI's president in Lahore, Aleem Khan, is “a master in taking over lands illegally”.

"He [Imran] has benefitted from thieves," said the younger Sharif brother.

Shehbaz added that Imran has "wasted the peoples time" and is the master of sit-ins and rallies. 

The chief minister also took aim at PTI's governance in KP and said that Imran had claimed that KP would produce enough electricity that it would supply the rest of the country, yet, KP has not added a "single megawatt of electricity". 

Regarding the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case verdict in which the apex court dismissed NAB's appeal to reopen the case, Shehbaz said he feels that he has been vindicated along with his family. 

The three-member bench had reserved the verdict in the disqualification petition against the two PTI leaders on November 14.

Reading the judgment, the chief justice ruled that Imran is not disqualified as a parliamentarian as the petitioner was not directly affected in the foreign funding case.

The court also ruled that the ECP will impartially investigate the foreign funding claims against the PTI chief by scrutinising accounts up till five years ago.

The judgment states that Imran wasn't bound to declare his offshore company, declared his London flat in an amnesty scheme and that his former wife Jemima gave Imran the funds for buying the Bani Gala estate. 

The case

The case was heard by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Saqib Nisar, who headed the three-member bench, which included Justices Umar Ata Bandial and Faisal Arab.

On Oct 18, the chief justice had remarked that the verdict of both the cases will be given together.

The petition, filed by PML-N's Abbasi, sought Tareen and Imran's disqualification over non-disclosure of their assets and ownership of offshore companies.

Abbasi had filed the petition in November last year. It accused the PTI leaders of not declaring their assets to the Election Commission of Pakistan and violations of the lncome Tax Ordinance, 1979, and Peoples Act, 1974. It also claimed that the PTI is a 'foreign-funded' party.