SC focuses gifts exchanges between PM, children

Court probing if it was an effort to whiten black money | Orders production of transactions details | Counsel also told to clear confusion about PM statements today The Supreme Court yesterday focused on the hefty gifts exchanged between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his children, raising the question if this could be a tactic to whiten the alleged black money.

The court inquired after large sums of money that were gifted by the premier’s son Hussain Nawaz to his father, asking him to explain how he earned $1.9 million (Rs510 million) which he “remitted to his father as a gift in 2011”.
Hearing a slew of petitions filed by PTI and others for Panama leaks investigations, the apex court also raised questions about a piece of agricultural land which the premier had allegedly bought in the name of Maryam in 2011 but claimed that he had gifted the land to her daughter.
The five-member bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa directed PM’s counsel Makhdoom Ali Khan to submit details of all such gifts.
The court also instructed the PM’s counsel to clear the confusions about prime minister’s statements in Thursday’s [today] hearing, saying that there were discrepancies between the arguments presented in court and the speech delivered by Nawaz in the National Assembly.
During the proceedings, the counsel continuing his arguments refuted the allegations of tax avoidance, saying that his client exchanged gifts with his children through banks.
He told the court that Nawaz had received a gift of $1.9 million from his son which was non-taxable. To this, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa said, there were two aspects of the case; first is suspected tax evasion and second is alleged money laundering.
“We want to know the source of the amount, where such a big amount is coming from,” Justice Ijazul Hassan posed a question to PM’s lawyer, referring to the huge amount gifted by Hussain Nawaz to his father over a period of four years.
Justice Ijazul Ahsan remarked that the court wanted to see the account number of PM wherein he received money from his son. According to him, the move signalled that a significant amount of money had been circulating.
Makdhoom Khan told the court that an amount of Rs210m was sent by Hussain Nawaz in 2012 and another Rs129.8m was gifted by him in the same year.
Justice Gulzar Ahmad asked Makhdoom why verified bank documents were not submitted before the court. He also questioned why the gift money was not reflected in the prime minister’s wealth statement.
The lawyer said that submission of documents regarding the transactions was not necessary since he had already informed the court that gifts were transferred through the banks. He added that if the court asked for such documents, details of the accounts will be provided.
About the gifts to Maryam Safdar, the counsel said they were mentioned in the prime minister’s wealth and income tax returns, which have been submitted in the court.
“It could be that this is black money. The son (Hussain Nawaz) sent the amount to the father (Nawaz Sharif) and the father bought the land in his daughter’s (Maryam Nawaz’s) name.” Justice Khosa observed.
The judge was referring to agricultural land spread over 5.38 acres in Mansehra district, which is worth Rs243m. The land was declared under Maryam’s name by the prime minister in his 2011-12 income tax returns.
“This property was not benami, was it?” asked Justice Gulzar, referring to the agricultural land. “Why did Hussain Nawaz only give gifts to his father?” Justice Ijazul Hassan asked.
Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed reiterated the bench’s desire to see the records of transactions. “We are not speaking in Persian,” he said. “Present the records,” he told the PM’s counsel.
In his remarks, Justice Khosa said it has been observed that people illegally sent money abroad and later some of it was remitted back in the country. He went on to say that now, the premier’s son has to provide the money trail of the amount which he remitted to his father.
During the hearing, the SC judge also referred to former interior minister Rehman Malik’s investigation report on “Sharif family’s money laundering in 1990s and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s confession statement”.
The judge, however, observed that the report could not meet its logical conclusion as National Accountability Bureau (NAB) did not file an appeal against Lahore High Court’s order to quash the reference against the Sharif family in 2014. The apex court judge further said SC cannot re-investigate the matter under Article 184-3 of the Constitution.