Islamabad
Former Attorney General for Pakistan Anwar Mansoor Khan Friday said that Justice Qazi Faez Isa’s wife Sarina Isa would have to declare the money trail for three properties she had shown in the income tax returns.
Talking to a social media channel, the former attorney general said it was an admitted position that she did not have the said assets till 2013.
“This is also an admitted position that she had not declared agriculture properties in 2013. Till 2013, she had no property except a house.
Now as three agriculture properties have surfaced, she will have to prove where they came from,” he commented.
He said the income should naturally precede
the properties shown to have been purchased in 2013 or 2014.
He said in the tax returns, Sarina Isa had declared three properties in London. As she had declared these properties, she would have to prove where the money came from.
“If she cannot prove, this will create problems for her,” Anwar Mansoor said.
He said under the Income Tax Ordinance, a tax officer had the powers to assess the tax returns. If the officer makes an assessment, naturally all those questions would raise. “And if she cannot respond all these questions, there will be a very very major issue,” he repeated.—APP
Meanwhile, legal community close to Supreme Court is puzzled by an unbelievable rumour.
Apparently, the news circulating on Social Media is that two of the honourable judges had demanded forcibly in writing from the Chief Justice that they must be part of the larger bench being formed to hear the review petitions of Qazi Faez and his wife Serena Isa.
Unbelievable! If true, this must be the first time even in the twisted history of country’s judiciary.
Another fact is that the ten-member bench also included judges who passed minority judgment in the initial decision.
(Justice Amin-u-Din replaced Justice Faisal Arab)
Why these two judges were so adamant to be part of the larger bench that they wrote letters on record? Final decision accepting Sarena Isa review petition was with a majority of 6 versus 4, so these two judges must have made the difference.
Who these two judges were? Will the media and public ever find out? Could the government or media enquire under Freedom of Information laws? Were these two judges by any chance; Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Maqbool Baqir? Will a truly brave journalist investigate? Is there any use to Freedom of Information laws?
After all this 6/10 decision (6 vs 4) in Sarena Isa review stopped Supreme Judicial Council to review the report submitted by the Federal Board of Revenue; country’s apex tax authority.
So, what was in the FBR report that Isa and his wife were so afraid of? Why so many people in media and bar associations joined together to stop the review of this FBR report even by the court itself?
Apparently the FBR report of more than 100 pages submitted to the Supreme Court explains that properties were purchased at the cost of Rs. 105 million (Rs. 10 crore plus) and Sarena Isa’s total income ever declared in all her tax records only made a total of Rs. 9 million.
Sarena Isa did claim agricultural income and agricultural income is exempt from taxes, but it must be declared and none of her tax returns ever declared such agricultural income.
FBR report shows that Justice Isa and his wife did maintain a MCB Forex Account in Karachi but it was never declared in their tax returns till 2018.
Some funds were transferred from this Forex Account, but these were for the purpose of education and living expenses and not for purchase of property.
How and where the funds (Rs. 105 million) originated that were used by her solicitors in London to purchase property? She was repeatedly asked but she never explained.
That both, Justice Isa and his wife Sarena never disclosed these London properties in their tax returns till Jan 2020, and the FBR report also mentions that while Qazi Isa and Sarena Isa had initially claimed that properties were purchased by their children and that children were adults and autonomous, but in front of FBR Sarena Isa changed her stance and claimed that she alone was 100% responsible for the purchase of properties.
But then where the funds came from and how these funds reached her solicitors in London, she could not explain.
Is this the biased FBR Report which several judges, Bar Associations and media pundits wanted to suppress? Is there any other country on earth where such a report on a key public office can be suppressed?
It is travesty of justice. Are judges above law. They are on tax money and under law and constitution. Which says nothing against Quran and sunnah.
If BB fatima can be under law and caliph Umar and Ali can be questioned? Then who is this mafia. How come they would force laws which they don’t consider for themselves.
