Politicians amongst top tax dodgers

[T-Faz]

ISLAMABAD: They have assets worth billions, yet they only pay a few thousand in taxes, if even that much.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, Punjab Chief Minister Shabaz Sharif, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa Chief Minister Amir Haider Hoti, Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali Khan, Jamiat Ulema Islam – Fazal chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Interior Minister Rehman Malik are some of those who did not pay a single penny in income tax in the period between 2004 and 2007.

The Express Tribune obtained the tax details of some of the country’s elected representatives from the Election Commission following a recent report saying that the assets of parliamentarians have registered a three-fold increase in six years.

According to the law, contesting candidates have to list the details of their tax returns for the last three years in the nomination papers.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s nomination papers show that while his assets are worth millions of rupees, he did not pay any income tax from 2004 to 2007.

The reason for this given by his spokesperson is that he spent most of the period in jail and thus did not pay income tax. Since becoming the prime minister, though, he has paid Rs82,000 annually, which is deducted from his salary.

Sharif, too, with declared assets in and outside Pakistan worth billions of rupees, did not pay anything to the national exchequer during the same period.

His party’s excuse is that he was in exile during that time. However, it did not share how much income tax he is paying as chief minister Punjab. Asfandyar Wali and Fazlur Rehman also did not pay any tax during the period between 2004 and 2007. Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, who also has declared assets amounting to billions of rupees, paid Rs8,000 in income tax in the three-year period and Rs10,000 as land revenue for the same period.

Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani paid Rs16,000 as income tax and Rs0.6 million as land revenue during the period in question.

Leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Chaudhry Nisar Ali, and former Punjab chief minister Pervaiz Elahi, who both have assets worth billions of rupees, paid only Rs0.2 million in income tax between 2004 and 2007.

And Rehman Malik, while he did not pay any income tax, paid a measly Rs194 as land revenue in the three years.

The Express Tribune sent requests to the country’s main political leaders, including President Asif Ali Zardari and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, seeking details of their tax returns. However, none except Gilani responded.

Presidential spokesperson Farhatullah Babar said that the president is not bound under the law to declare his assets and tax details. The Federal Bureau of Revenue refused to give details either, saying it was not allowed to make public the tax returns of any citizen, including politicians.

Economist and former commerce minister Dr Zubair Khan said that an independent commission should scrutinise the assets and tax details of the country’s rulers. “It is astonishing to see these figures,” he said. “Our rulers have no right to ask people for tax since they don’t pay any.”

Politicians amongst top tax dodgers – The Express Tribune

 

[Gazzi]

Thankfully, all the banta recently has come to a head.......and the SC has given its last ultimatum for the Swiss cases against Zardari to the opened.........now we can see some drama unfold

 

[Sal-adin]

Hopefully... I would love Zardari's *** chained... but interesting thing is that he might claim immunity as head of state... then its probably be going to be a different ball game...

 

[fatman17]

article 190 - where SC can ask army to 'implement' its orders!

 

[Tayyab1796]

Thankfully, all the banta recently has come to a head.......and the SC has given its last ultimatum for the Swiss cases against Zardari to the opened.........now we can see some drama unfold

SC is the only beacon of hope now , My biggest concern is that this much mockery of the SC 's decisions has set a very very bad precedent for the rule of law in this unfortunate land.

 

[Sal-adin]

Article 190 is about implementing the courts order... what I am talking about is Article 248 which gives immunity to the head of state and this asshole is sitting behind it... So can one order of supreme court be in contradiction to the constitution of Pakistan?

 

[Gazzi]

SC is the only beacon of hope now , My biggest concern is that this much mockery of the SC 's decisions has set a very very bad precedent for the rule of law in this unfortunate land.

Don't despair my brother........the SC has to go through the motions.....they have used every possible use of legislation...let mke explain it..

The SC must be seen and show that they have used every possible way and gave the Government every opportunity to follow its orders....if the Government had issues with the SC orders at the time, which they did, then they should have appealed them within the set time given of 28 days by the SC. The Government failed to do so, now the SC has to implement its orders and in doing so they must go through a process.....

This is a bit like General Musharaf......he too did not go through the legal process for virtually everything which is why it came to a head and haunts him today, whenever he returns he will be judged according to the very Constitution he should have followed.....who knows, if he had followed legislation properly, he too would have achieved ewhat he wanted anyways, just through a legal framework....

The same is being done here by the SC, only this time around, Chief Justice Iftikhar Choudary is going through teh due process and now it appears that the last step has been taken....the Law Minister has refused to implement the SC orders and sent his report tot he Prime Ministers Office, the Government is trying to use the legal notice limit to its advantage......i.e. the Law Minister legally has a set time to respond to the Order, he sends it to the Prime Minister who then gets another set amount of days to respond, he will then send it to someone else and the process goes on until the maximum number of days (which the SC would have granetd) come to an end, then the SC will have to take other measures.

He can use Article 190 to be implemented, by firstly using all civilian options, i.e. the Police etc..........only after this all fails, whcih will do, then the Court will summons the Military to its court for the implementationj of the 111 Brigade to be bought under the authority of the SC, but even then they will give the Government every opportunity to re-think its strategy, as when the Government sees that the Military has been prdered to Court, it is a step which normally they will wait for.........reason being, (a) they get to waste as much time as is possible and take it to the last step, (b) wait and see if other Judges will stand by the CJ and his decision of implementation (c) See the reaction of the Military (d) See the reaction of the International Community (e) Urge the International Community to exert as much pressure on the Military to not respond to the CJ order, thus forcing change within the Judiciary itself.......

If this all fails, then the Government will most likely open the Swiss cases, as it will rescind the need for the Article 190 and send the Military out of the authority of the SC, and they can start the whole process again to a point where when this happens for the second time around, the Court investigation under NAB will bring alot of criticism for Zardari. On this occasion, the Giovernment will try and again, see the reaction of the media and nation and most likely President Zardari, by then will resign from his position.

But dont get too happy yetm, this will most likely be towards the end of PPPP's five year term, like I said, there is a process you have to follow, and its taken this long, only to get this far........

Most likely, Aitzaz Ahsan would have through the loop holes with Zardari and his cronies and explained exactly how long they can stretch this out for.......

 

[Sal-adin]

Its a good post explaining the SC modus operandi Gazzi... but what I am worried about is Article 248 which states as follows...

No criminal proceeding whatsoever shall be instituted or continued against the president or governor in any court during his term of office.

No process for the arrest or imprisonment of the president or a governor shall issue from any court during his term of office.

No civil proceedings in civil cases in which relief is claimed against the president or a governor shall be instituted during his term of office in respect of anything done by or not done by him in his personal capacity whether before or after he enters upon his office, unless at least sixty days before the proceedings are instituted, notice in writing has been delivered to him or sent to him in the manner prescribed by law, stating the nature of the proceedings, the cause of action, the name, description and place of residence of the party by whom the proceedings are to be instituted and the relief which the party claims.

Now if he hides behind this what are the chances for the SC to put him to justice?

 

[Gazzi]

Its a good post explaining the SC modus operandi Gazzi... but what I am worried about is Article 248 which states as follows...

No criminal proceeding whatsoever shall be instituted or continued against the president or governor in any court during his term of office.

No process for the arrest or imprisonment of the president or a governor shall issue from any court during his term of office.

No civil proceedings in civil cases in which relief is claimed against the president or a governor shall be instituted during his term of office in respect of anything done by or not done by him in his personal capacity whether before or after he enters upon his office, unless at least sixty days before the proceedings are instituted, notice in writing has been delivered to him or sent to him in the manner prescribed by law, stating the nature of the proceedings, the cause of action, the name, description and place of residence of the party by whom the proceedings are to be instituted and the relief which the party claims.

Now if he hides behind this what are the chances for the SC to put him to justice?

The two things we must distinguish first..........

The implementation of these cases, Yes the President has immunity, however, there is nothing to say that an investigation cannot be held. This is the SC card to use, they want the investigation to begin which would most definately criminalise Zardari, which is why tthe PPPP is desparate not to allow to happen.....reason for this is, public support.....this has already reached lowest level thus far since the floods, on top of this, the Government would be forced to act if the want the support of the International Community who wil all know of the character of Zardari with SC court cases pending, awaiting his 5 year term befiore Police can lay hands on, and also........public and media pressure will mount on parties like MQM to pull out of the coalition, thus forcing mid term elections. This the President cannot even prevent as the Supreme Court will order election and the President is powerless to stop.......that point, he will make for Islamabad Airport, very hastly, which is why he does not have any wealth out of his 1.8 billion dollars in Pakistan.

 

[Mansoor A Qureshi]

Its a good post explaining the SC modus operandi Gazzi... but what I am worried about is Article 248 which states as follows...

No criminal proceeding whatsoever shall be instituted or continued against the president or governor in any court during his term of office.

No process for the arrest or imprisonment of the president or a governor shall issue from any court during his term of office.

No civil proceedings in civil cases in which relief is claimed against the president or a governor shall be instituted during his term of office in respect of anything done by or not done by him in his personal capacity whether before or after he enters upon his office, unless at least sixty days before the proceedings are instituted, notice in writing has been delivered to him or sent to him in the manner prescribed by law, stating the nature of the proceedings, the cause of action, the name, description and place of residence of the party by whom the proceedings are to be instituted and the relief which the party claims.

Now if he hides behind this what are the chances for the SC to put him to justice?

Bro the constitution is not the word from Allah, keep it aside and no good has been delivered by this so called democracy so let this corruption be stopped once and for all, arrest and execute all these traitors publicly and save Pakistan
SOMEONE PLEASE YAAR!!! SOMEONE
i dont think Pak has much time left

 

[Sal-adin]

Thank you for your reply Gazzi... I think this is exactly what is going to happen... They have already lost the Sindh card in the floods... International community is already calling them thieves and also the "Awam"... public support is way way down... On top of all that now there's this Bob Woodward's book Obama's Wars in which he says that in Nov 2008 Zardari met Director CIA and while he was worried of friendly casualities... Zardari said it doesnt bother him... meaning that he is continuously being hammered...

And to my brother Mansoor A. Qureshi... Yes I want that bastard behind bars and all his wealth in the coffers of Pakistan... along with the others who have robbed us... Banning them forever never to show there ugly faces...

I hope so direly that supreme court pulls this off and we may have many many Iftikhar Chaudarys in every institution... Amin

 

[Sal-adin]

Bro the constitution is not the word from Allah, keep it aside and no good has been delivered by this so called democracy so let this corruption be stopped once and for all, arrest and execute all these traitors publicly and save Pakistan
SOMEONE PLEASE YAAR!!! SOMEONE
i dont think Pak has much time left

I want that too... to be made a public example out of them... and brother I really dont care about what government system we have... we were always a puppet regime and still are... while our so called rulers bow down at the altars in washington and london and perhaps Tel Aviv too... What I meant to say was that if SC says he cant hide behind 248 so he cant hide... it was meant for discussion purpose only... as what would be proposed plan of action by the SC and what would be reaction from these lowlives in the parliament...