ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan, who had been supporting the judiciary since the Supreme Court’s decision of disqualifying former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the Panama Papers case in July last year, on Thursday criticised the Islamabad High Court for delaying hearing of the case about disqualification of Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif.

“Even his [minister’s] accounts have been found. The Islamabad High Court is not hearing his case. They keep on giving month-long adjournments and then they change the composition of the bench. They heard the case for nine months, and at the end, they changed the composition of the bench. Is this justice?” asked Mr Khan during a news conference which he had arranged to criticise the economic policies of the present government.

Flanked by party MNA Asad Umar and Senator Shibli Faraz, the PTI chief said that due to poor economic policies of the government over nearly five years, Pakistan today was facing international pressure on security issues.

Mr Khan refused to answer a question regarding the future caretaker set-up and the recent statement of Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed in which he demanded imposition of a “judicial martial law” in the country. Mr Khan said that if he gave a reply it would make newspaper headlines and the issue of economy would be buried under it.

Claims number of taxpayers has decreased from 2.1 million to 1.2m in 10 years

Sources said that earlier in the day, Mr Ahmed had called on Mr Khan at his Banigala residence to explain to him the controversial statement.

Commenting on the recent depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar, Mr Khan said the second big devaluation in a few months would increase the cost of living for the common citizen.

He was of the view that prices of petrol, diesel, LNG, cooking oil, electricity, cost of transportation, imported fertilisers and seeds and many other items of daily use would increase due to the recent rupee devaluation. He predicted that the petrol price on April 1 would be increased to Rs95 per litre which was at Rs71 per litre in July last year.

“This recurring devaluation is the result of the disastrous economic policies implemented by Nawaz Sharif and Ishaq Dar over the last four years,” the PTI chairman said, adding that the government was levying heavy taxes and surcharges on gas and electricity, making both these inputs most expensive in the region for Pakistani exports.

In order to fudge the budget deficit numbers and artificially show a lower deficit, he said that nearly Rs400 billion of refunds of the industry were stuck with the Federal Board of Revenue.

Mr Khan said the entire burden of revenue generation was being placed on the middle class people, poor, industrialists and farmers as the government had failed to collect tax from tax evaders and money launderers.

The PTI chief also criticised the government for renewing three surcharges on electricity amounting to Rs1.55 per unit which were expected to earn the government additional Rs110 billion in a year. He said the government had also decided to continue collecting Neelum-Jhelum Surcharge despite claiming that the project was complete.

Mr Khan alleged that institutions had been deliberately weakened to ensure lack of accountability for the rulers and their accomplices. He once again alleged that Shahbaz Sharif had embezzled billions of rupees in the Multan metro bus project.

The PTI chief claimed that the number of taxpayers had decreased from 2.1 million to 1.2m in the last 10 years. He regretted that there were only 1.2m people who paid taxes in a country with a population of 22m.

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2018