Justice Isa accuses PM Imran, Shehzad Akbar of owning multiple properties in UK

Justice Qazi Faiz Issa on Wednesday submitted fresh documents to the Supreme Court (SC) to substantiate his position in the petition he has filed challenging the presidential reference against him. 

The documents allege that there are six properties in the United Kingdom (UK) registered in the name of Prime Minister Imran Khan, whereas the PM's aide on accountability, Shehzad Akbar, allegedly owns five properties in the country. 

Justice Isa said the information has been obtained from the search engine 192.com.

"According to the government, the properties of my [Justice Isa] family members were also searched from the same website," he said.

While accessing the website for property information of other  government lawmakers, Justice Isa found that, as per the records of the website, there are five properties in the name of Shehzad Akbar, seven properties in the name of PM's aide on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfikar Bukhari, while Usman Dar and former Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan also own properties in the UK, besides Jahangir Tareen and former president  General Pervez Musharraf.

Noting that the petition does not allege that the aforementioned lawmakers made properties from illicit sources of funds, Justice Isa contended that the Federal Board of revenue (FBR) should determine how much taxable income the government figures have disclosed and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) should separately determine whether these politicians have laundered money abroad or have transferred the amounts in a legitimate way.

"The petition seeks the annulment of the Assets Recovery Unit (ARU) with all its initiatives, and withdrawal of all salaries and benefits from Shehzad Akbar and ARU expert International Criminal Lawyer Zia Mustafa Naseem," he added.

However, Shehzad Akbar in a tweet responding to a journalist, rejected the allegation that he owns property in the UK, saying he may take legal action against the 'defamatory' accusation. 

Top court points out loopholes in reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa

Yesterday, the Supreme Court had remarked that the reference filed against Justice Qazi Faez Isa has legal deficiencies, adding that if such a mistake was found in a normal case it would be disposed off. It said the ongoing case can also be thrown out if dishonesty is determined.

The remarks were passed by a ten-member larger bench, headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial, which is hearing the case filed against Justice Isa.

During the hearing hearing, Justice Bandial had remarked that they agreed on the accountability of judges, but noted that the applicant has contended that the evidence was collected illegally and dishonestly.

“The reference has legal loopholes and generally such cases are disposed off on such a mistake; therefore if dishonesty is found in the reference, then the case can be disposed off,” said the judge. 

“Ownership of properties in London has been admitted. The question in the case is of the purchase of the property and the petitioner has refused to share the details of the purchase, adding that the applicant wants the probe to be done legally,” noted Justice Bandial.

Justice Bandial had remarked that the FBR took action against Justice Isa under Article 116, 114, adding that the case can go to the judicial counsel if dishonesty is not found. He had directed the government's counsel, Farogh Naseem, to present his arguments on the alleged dishonesty and the evidence gathered.