Honorable CJP Allah Is With You All Conspiracies Will Be Foiled By Almighty

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has separated himself from the bench hearing the case of alleged corruption involving his son.
After unconfirmed reports surfaced in the media about an alleged clandestine business deal, purportedly between business tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain and CJ’s son Dr Arsalan Iftikhar to influence the judicial process, the chief justice had constituted a three-member bench under his headship to probe the issue.
Before quitting the bench, the chief justice said: “The bench minus the CJP will continue to hear the case and the hearing will be conducted in the open court, so everyone could know about its fate.” Justice Chaudhry further remarked if some people think that everyone has a price, “I want to tell you that judges are no more for sale.”
After his departure the two-member bench headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja conducted the hearing. Attorney General Irfan Qadir argued Dr Arsalan Iftikhar should not be treated now as the son of the CJP, but an ordinary citizen.
Justice Jawwad remarked that the documents filed by journalist Kamran Khan, Shaheen Sehbai and Hamid Mir give the impression that all the documents are about the dignity of the Supreme Court. “If this institution gets damaged, the whole country would be damaged. We will get to the bottom of this case,” he observed.
The attorney general and Zahid Bukhari, counsel for Malik Riaz, contended that if this is about the honor of the institution then the judges who at the first instance heard it should not sit in the bench. They said a larger bench be constituted to hear the case, instead. Justice Jawwad told the attorney general he was free to file application in this regard.
The court directed that Malik Riaz, Ali Ahmed Rian and Dr Arsalan Iftikhar file the concise statements and remain present during the hearing. The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairman was ordered to file the tax returns and wealth statements of Bahria Town Private Limited.
Kamran Khan, anchor person of private TV channel, told the court that one day he received an anonymous phone call claiming that Dr Arsalan was allegedly using his position to mint money from the wealthy people whose cases are pending before the Supreme Court.
A few days later, another anonymous caller phoned him and said: “I was told that Malik Riaz Hussain has gathered evidence to prove that he has been blackmailed by Dr Arsalan. My professional curiosity urged me to make some basic checks, hence I contacted Malik Riaz with this explicit intention and met him in Karachi twice.”
In the meetings Malik Riaz showed documents pertaining to Dr Arsalan’s summer vacation trips to London over the past three years. There were tenancy agreements signed by Dr Arsalan for five star accommodations in Central London and receipts/invoices showed that the payments were made from the accounts/credits cards controlled by Malik Riaz and his family member in London.
There were documents that also showed that travel and stay arrangements for Dr Arsalan and a female accomplice in Monte Carlo were also made from the accounts controlled by Malik Riaz or his family members.
Kamran said Malik Riaz told him that when he shared the entire documentary evidence with Aitzaz Ahsan, he was utterly shocked and broke into tears. If Arsalan was running a racket then how his family could be unaware about it, Riaz quoted Aitzaz as saying.
On that, the chief justice said: “I swear that he had no knowledge about the business of his son. He said now they wanted to send this message across the board that if Arsalan’s trial could be held then no one would be spared.
Kamran Khan further told the court: “I questioned Malik Riaz as to why he kept paying Dr Arsalan despite getting unfavourable orders from the apex court. Mr Riaz answered, ‘Each time Arsalan made one excuse or the other with a promise that things will start resolving from the next hearing’.”
The chief justice remarked he had been hearing cases of Bahria Town for the last three years and questioned in which case Malik Riaz was given relief. “Everyone is responsible for his own deeds,” the CJP said.
Shabbar Hussain, secretary of Bahria Town Private Limited (BTPL), who did not appear before the court yesterday despite many notices, came to the court and briefed about Bahria Town’s assets and shares. He said the company was started in collaboration with Bahria Foundation, which had 10 per cent share, while Malik Riaz’s family had 90 per cent share and now there was not a single share of Bahria Foundation.
Justice Jawwad S Khawaja questioned how they could still use the name of Bahria when Bahria Foundation is no more their partner, adding the impression is given that the Navy is its sponsor. The court directed him to produce a certified copy of the termination certificate of the agreement and the record of the civil court where litigation was going on regarding their company.
To a question, Shabbar said they were collecting material and would not say why Malik Riaz employed so many retired army generals. He also told the court that Malik Riaz has resigned from the company and now his son Ali Riaz holds 26% share while Beena Riaz holds 74% share.
Advocate Zahid Bukhari informed the court that Malik Riaz has engaged him today (Thursday). He said Malik Riaz was in London and ready to appear before the court and submit the documents. Sardar Ishaq filed caveat on behalf of Arsalan Iftikhar.
The case was adjourned until June 11.
In his remarks, the chief justice said he was not responsible for his offspring’s deeds as declared in the Quran. “I own no house and no car despite the fact that I have been a judge and hearing high profile cases for 22 years.”
“I swear I do not know what business Arsalan runs,” the chief justice said, adding, that the accused standing before him was not his son, as he was just an individual named Arsalan.
The Supreme Court in its interim order said a division bench of the court would now hear the case.
CJ quits hearing son’s case.