LAHORE: A day after the Cabinet Division uploaded the asset details of all special assistants and advisers to the prime minister on its website, the assets and liabilities declarations of 19 non-elected cabinet members revealed that 10 of them hold foreign properties.
Seven special assistants and three advisers to the premier own foreign properties, with Syed Zulfiqar Abbas Bukhari being the most notable among them. The special assistant for overseas Pakistan owns a flat worth GBP 4.85 million in an upscale London neighbourhood, besides shares in various companies, including the offshore BVI company with underlying assets consisting of 11 apartments with a value GBP 3.65 million. It is worth noting here that Bukhari is a British passport holder as well.
SAPM Shahzad Syed Qasim, who is a US citizen, owns three properties in the US worth USD 865,000 collectively, while also owning three properties in Dubai, UAE worth AED 20,688,000, one of which is in his wife’s name.
Similarly, SAPM on Petroleum Nadeem Babar, also a US citizen, owns a house in Houston Texas worth Rs31.1 million.
Dr Shehbaz Gill, who had previously served in the Punjab government and recently was recently inducted into the federal cabinet, owns a property in Illinois worth Rs13, 065,000. Dr Gill is a US residency holder and was an assistant professor of Business Administration at the University of Illinois.
SAPM on Accountability Shahzad Akbar has declared a flat in Spain that is in his wife’s name and was inherited. It is pertinent to mention here that Akbar is the face of the PM’s accountability drive who, in the past, has accused opposition politicians and Supreme Court (SC) judges for ownership of properties abroad.
SAPM Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind declared two properties in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). A Rs42,000,000 villa in his name and an apartment valued at Rs 33,600,000 in his son’s name.
Declared property in the name of spouse is not limited to special assistants as Advisor on Finance Dr Hafeez Sheikh has also disclosed a property in Dubai worth Rs130 million in his wife’s name.
Dr Ishrat Hussain, also an adviser to the PM, has declared three properties in spouse’s name, all owned in various states of the US, amounting to USD 2.14 million while Adviser to PM Dr Babar Awan has declared a property in Spain for which he never got possession amounting to Rs11 million.
Tania Airdus, who was brought in to head the ‘Digital Pakistan’ campaign, does not own any property within Pakistan but declared two properties in the US amounting to USD 1.43 million in addition to a UK property bought in 2013, which values at USD 512,477, and a property in Singapore declared at a value of USD 765,680. Tania, however, is a Canadian by birth and has not spent a lot of time in Pakistan.
While it is not illegal to own properties abroad, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), while in opposition, took the matter of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s ownership of London Park Lane flats, revealed in the Panama Papers, to the apex court, which eventually resulted in his disqualification. PTI stalwart Jehangir Tareen met the same fate after his UK estate, also held in his children’s names, was revealed.
Most recently SC judge Qazi Faez Isa who will become chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) in 2024, fought a very public trial in front of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) for non-declaration of UK properties owned by his wife and children. His wife is currently providing a money trail of her properties to the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR), a report of which the tax authority will present before the SJC once the investigation is complete.
The basis for the above-mentioned investigations was the absence of a money trail. Anyone holding public office has had to prove to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) or other investigative authorities, beyond a reasonable doubt, that at time of purchase of properties, their known sources of tax paid income were declared and sufficient to complete the purchase.
“If indeed accountability under this government is across the board then the same set of rules should also apply to the PTI and its cabinet members. And if they are unable to satisfy the relevant authorities then they should be made to resign and face the courts. Of course, many of them also have the option of going back to their country of origin. Perhaps they should also be placed on the ECL” commented an opposition party MNA who wished to remain anonymous.
