Arsalan-Riaz case: SC dissolves Shoaib Suddle commission

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Px06-032 ISLAMABAD: Jun06 ? Son of Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Arslan Iftikhar returns after a hearing outside Supreme Court of Pakistan. ONLINE PHOTO by Waseem Khan
Arsalan Iftikhar outside the Supreme Court. — Photo by Online

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday dissolved the Dr Shoaib Suddle judicial commission which had been tasked to investigate allegations of a Rs342 million business deal between Arsalan Iftikhar, son of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, and property tycoon Malik Riaz, DawnNews reported. The commission was dissolved by the two-judge bench of the apex court during a hearing of the Arsalan Iftikhar case.

The bench reportedly said that the court had taken a notice on the issue when the judiciary was dragged into the matter but since that had not been proven, the commission was no longer needed.

The bench further said that the findings of the Shoaib Suddle commission should be made public.

During the hearing, the counsel for Riaz, Zahid Bokhari, said that the matter was between two individuals and did not involve corruption from the national exchequer.

Bokhari moreover requested the bench to stop the commission's proceedings so that whichever party wanted to take whatever legal recourse, they may approach the concerned avenues in that regard.

Speaking to media representatives later, Bokhari said justice had prevailed, adding that, his client had been raising objections over the legality of the commission from day one.

The counsel said his client's objections on the commission's report had been noted by the court.

Bokhari added that the Shoaib Suddle commission had no authority to investigate the funds of Bahria Town.

The commission’s preliminary report, which was shared with the media on Thursday, said that Arsalan had admitted before the commission that he had availed two of the three foreign visits alleged by Riaz in a graft case being heard in the Supreme Court.

Arsalan admitted that he had received ‘favours’ from Riaz, his friend or his son-in-law, but the report did not answer why he had accepted these and nor did it explain the businessman’s claim that he had ‘favoured’ Arsalan in order to get court cases settled in his favour.

Earlier on Aug 30, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Jawwad S. Khwaja, appointed Federal Tax Ombudsman Dr Mohammad Shoaib Suddle as a one man-commission to investigate allegations of a Rs342 million business deal between Arsalan Iftikhar, son of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, and property tycoon Malik Riaz. The commission had been directed to complete the task in a month’s time.

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