Rs2.1bn in gifts exchanged between Jahangir Tareen, children in six years

More than two billion rupees have been exchanged between Jahangir Khan Tareen and his children as 'gifts exchanges' during the past six years, the amount of money exceeding the amount Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif received from his sons as 'gift'.

Tareen and his children exchanged over Rs2.1 billion in the past six years while Nawaz Sharif received remittances worth some Rs1.16 billion from his elder son Hussain Nawaz Sharif as 'gift' since 2010.

The Supreme Court (SC) has already ruled that the exchange of 'gifts' among members of Sharifs' family would be investigated in the Panama Leaks case.

Tareen gifted Rs1.96 billion to his children between 2011 and 2016 while he received Rs157.5 million from his son, Ali Khan Tareen, and other children as 'gifts' during this period, according to the details of his wealth statement submitted with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the SC.

Tareen sent around Rs1.22 billion as 'gift' to his children in 2011, documents further revealed. He sent Rs261 million to his children as 'gifts exchanges' and 'other gifts' in 2012, Rs29 million in 2013, Rs364.5 million in 2014 and Rs87.3 million as "gifts" in 2015.

The documents continued to reveal that the PTI leader received Rs87.5 million as 'gift money' from his children in 2016. He also received remittances worth Rs70 million in the shape of ‘gifts’ in 2015.

"Yes, we exchanged gifts through banking channels. All gifts were showed in our wealth returns as well, also submitted with the FBR. My children are independent and regularly pay their taxes. Nothing illegal was done by us. No one can compare my case with the Sharifs' family case. It's a fair business and we are going to submit all details before the court," said Tareen.

Azid Nafees, counsel for Hanif Abbasi, who is seeking Tareen's disqualification, argued before the SC on Wednesday that the petitioner wanted to know the reasons behind the gifts.

"Source of gifted amount either sent abroad or received here must be disclosed. We want to know where such a big amount is coming from - it could be a black money - Mr Tareen must prove legality of 'gifts exchanges'. How many times did Mr Tareen give funds as gifts to his children in the past six years," Azid argued.

On this point, SC judges hearing case of Hanif Abbasi vs Jehangir Tareen also raised the same question; whether a child's gifts to his father are legal?

The judges put this question before Sikander Bashir, counsel for Tareen, who told the court that he would respond to all queries after seeking instructions from his client.

It is also pertinent to mention here that the FBR disclosed that some 2,700 Pakistanis received Rs102 billion in gifts from abroad in the past two years.