Jahangir Tareen submits trust's details in Supreme Court

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Jahangir Tareen has submitted a ‘trust deed’ to the Supreme Court regarding a 12-acre property he owns in the United Kingdom.

The documents were submitted in relation to the disqualification case filed against him and PTI Chairman Imran Khan by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Hanif Abbasi over the alleged non-declaration of assets and ownership of offshore companies by the two. 

A three-member Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, is hearing the case. The bench will resume proceedings on November 7, Tuesday. 

According to the documents, Tareen is a ‘settler’ for the trust which owns 12 acres of property in the UK through its company, Shiny View Limited. 

The trust was created in 2011 for a period of 150 years, the documents state further.

Tareen and his wife have also been listed as the trust’s ‘discretionary lifetime beneficiaries’. 

They also state that Tareen can direct the trustees to transfer the income from the trust fund to any of the discretionary beneficiaries, including him.

The documents also elaborate that in case Tareen dies, his wife, children and grandchildren will be named as discretionary beneficiaries.

At the last hearing on October 25, the chief justice had observed that Tareen had still not provided the court with the trust deed of his UK property.

During the hearing, Justice Umar Ata Bandiyal, the other member of the bench, observed that the Panama Papers case also revolved around the issue of beneficial ownership and property being on the name of a trust deed.

Sikandar Bashir Mohmand, Tareen's counsel, responded that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's son Hussain Nawaz's trust was different from Tareen’s as his client is not a beneficial owner of the trust.

The chief justice also observed that the court has to see the matter of honesty in this case, adding that the petitioner has filed the case of non-declaration of an offshore company.

Justice Faisal Arab demanded that the documents pertaining to the Shiny Star View Limited Trust should be presented, to which the lawyer said that currently the details aren’t available but can be in case the court orders.

The hearing was then adjourned until November 7.