The Supreme Court on Wednesday adjourned the Jahangir Tareen disqualification case till tomorrow after Tareen's counsel presented details of his client's 'insider trading'.
A three-member apex bench ─ headed by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Umar Atta Bandial and Justice Faisal Arab ─ was hearing a petition filed by PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi which seeks the disqualification of PTI chief Imran Khan and PTI leader Tareen over the alleged non-disclosure of assets, existence of offshore companies, as well as receiving foreign funding for the party.
During the hearing, Tareen's counsel told the court that Tareen did not inflict a loss upon anyone through his actions. He said that Tareen had resigned as the chief executive officer and was discharging his responsibilities as a member of the board of governors of the company whose shares were brought.
Responding to a question by the chief justice regarding Allah Yar and Haji Khan, he said that Allah Yar has been an employee of Tareen since 1975 and currently he is the head of Lodhran farm, whereas Haji Khan has been working for Tareen since 1980 and is currently responsible for looking after the residencies of Tareen in Lahore and Islamabad.
The lawyer also admitted that Allah Yar purchased 14,178 shares worth Rs12.97 million for ASB company during January 12, 2005, to October 27, 2005. The shares were sold out against Rs46.115 million, translating into a profit of Rs33.145 million, he added.
Similarly, he said, Haji Khan purchased 200,000 shares worth Rs29 million for ASB company during May 3, 2005, to November 19, 2005. Haji Khan sold the shares against Rs66.666 million, translating into a net profit of Rs37.666 million. In total, both the employees purchased shares of Rs41.9 million and sold them against Rs112.7 million — acquiring a profit of more than Rs70 million.
The amount to purchase shares was provided to both of them by Tareen, he added.
Though the case is not regarding taxation, the question is that whether the insider trading done by Tareen was conducted in a fair manner or not, Justice Umar Atta Bandial highlighted.
During the hearing of the case, the CJ said in his remarks that he was closely observing the cases of Tareen and Imran Khan. He said that the court would issue a ruling on both the cases together.
Akram Shaikh, counsel for the petitioner, argued before the court that Imran Khan had filed an application in the case to change his stance.
Khan was seeking moon to play with, Shaikh said, adding that he will file his reply to the application.
