ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has given the green signal to its legal team to prepare a petition seeking disqualification of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on allegations of corruption, sources told Dawn here on Saturday.

The party, however, has not yet decided if the petition would be filed before the Lahore High Court (LHC) or the Election Commission of Pakistan.

PTI secretary general Jahangir Tareen has already filed a defamation suit against the chief minister after the latter accused him of getting his bank loans written off and committing money laundering.

The sources said that Senator Babar Awan, who has recently been included in the PTI’s legal team and currently appearing before the Supreme Court in the Panamagate case, had been entrusted the task of preparing the petition against Shahbaz Sharif, the younger brother of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

They claimed that Shahbaz Sharif could face charges of money laundering.

When contacted, a senior party office-bearer confirmed that Babar Awan had been given some documents and asked to prepare a case against Shahbaz Sharif. He, however, refused to divulge details of the charges which the party would frame against the Punjab chief minister, saying he could not share it at the moment.

So far, the PTI has only targeted the prime minister and his family members in connection with the Panamagate scam and no formal complaint or petition seeking Shahbaz Sharif’s disqualification has been filed by it.

Talking to reporters after an event at the Convention Centre here on Saturday, Mr Tareen confirmed that a petition against the younger Sharif was being prepared. He asked the reporters to wait for a week or so for details.

He said that the PTI had submitted sufficient evidence before the apex court in the Panamagate case, adding that he was not expecting a “clean chit” for Nawaz Sharif from the court.

In response to a question, Mr Tareen said that Pakistan Peoples Party had no future in Punjab even in the next general elections and the PTI and the PML-N would be the main contestants.

The PTI leader ridiculed the prime minister over the release of the transcription of his phone conversation with US president-elect Donald Trump, claiming that it had made Pakistan a laughing stock in the world community.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2016