Two judicial verdicts that exposed Imran, Qadri

ISLAMABAD: While Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri continue to ridicule their political opponents in their daily sermons calling them liars and cheaters, the fact remains that two judicial verdicts handed down against the PTI and the PAT chiefs had exposed their own tricks and lies.
While a judicial commission of the Lahore High Court had belied Tahirul Qadri’s claim in 1990 about an assassination attempt on his life, saying that he himself engineered it, a 1997 Los Angeles Court verdict had deeply embarrassed Imran Khan by disproving his contention that he was not the father of Tyrian Jade, the daughter of Sita White. The Lahore High Court judicial commission had stated in its 1990 report: “Tahirul Qadri is a person of such a mental health who could manipulate and exploit anything for his personal and political gains”. The Los Angles Court had stated in its 1997 ruling: “The defendant, Imran Khan, is the father of the child as he has failed to defend himself”.
The Los Angles verdict was delivered after Imran Khan’s ex-girlfriend Sita White had filed a paternity suit against Imran. Sita, daughter of late billionaire Lord White of Hull, pleaded in her petition that the blood tests had proved that Imran Khan was the father of her daughter. In her court deposition, Sita alleged that Khan’s response, upon learning that it was a girl, was of regret and distress, asserting that the child would not be able to play Cricket. Before the Log Angeles Court verdict, Imran Khan had rejected Sita White’s claim as a white lie, stating: “I have never been involved in any affair of any sort with the lady”.
But the fact remains that Sita White, who lived in Beverly Hills, had a relationship with Imran Khan in 1987-88. According to Sita’s claim, when they had first met again in Los Angeles on October 2, 1991, she told Imran Khan that she wanted to have his baby, to which he had happily agreed. However, according to Sita, as it transpired that the child was a

girl, Imran Khan had urged her to have an abortion, but she refused to do so. Tyrian Jade was born on June 15, 1992, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, yet Imran Khan had disowned her.
It was on the basis of the Los Angeles Court verdict that the 20 MNAs of the Altaf-led MQM had filed a disqualification reference against Imran Khan in 2007 [in a tit for tat move] after the PTI chairman had approached the Scotland Yard in London May 2007, seeking strict action against MQM supremo for his alleged involvement in money laundering. MQM’s disqualification reference asked the Election Commission of Pakistan to declare Imran ineligible as a member of National Assembly for not being a pious Muslim under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution – having fathered an illegitimate child with his ex-girlfriend. The MQM’s reference cited the July 30, 1997 verdict of the Los Angeles Court which declared Imran to be the father of Tyrian Jade, the daughter of Anna Louise, aka Sita White. “The defendant, Imran Khan, is the father of the child”, the superior court commissioner, Anthony Jones, had ruled after a brief hearing as Imran failed to defend himself.
The disqualification reference stated: “We have got complete record of the Los Angeles Court proceedings which clearly shows that Imran Khan had never challenged the Los Angeles Court verdict which means that he had indirectly conceded having committed adultery. This subsequently disqualifies Imran Khan from being elected as a member of the National Assembly for having violated Articles 62 and 63 of the 1973 Constitution”. The reference against Imran Khan was filed with the then speaker National Assembly Chaudhry Ameer Hussain who forwarded the same to the Election Commission which was bound to announce its decision within 90 days.
In a bid to save his National Assembly seat, Imran finally broke his silence on charge of committing prenuptial and stated on July 26, 2007 that the entire Pakistani Parliament runs the risk of disqualification under the piety laws. “By seeking my disqualification under Articles 62 and 63, the MQM has done a favour to Pakistani politics because their move would wipe out 99 percent of the parliamentarians.” He chuckled and added, “It might even help wiping out Pakistan’s only recognised liberal ruler - General Pervez Musharraf.” He further claimed that he had a sound moral character and did not have an illegitimate child with the name of Tyrian.
In his written reply filed with the Election Commission of Pakistan, the chief of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf had maintained that the disqualification reference filed against him by the Altaf-led MQM was frivolous and primarily meant to divert public attention from the terrorist activities of MQM, which was a key political ally of General Musharraf because of his Mohajir connection with Altaf. A three-member tribunal of the Election Commission of Pakistan consequently dismissed MQM’s disqualification reference against Imran. The short order dated September 5, 2007, said that the MQM’s reference was not maintainable, and was hence rejected. But there are those who allege that it was disposed of on the intervention of Musharraf.
As far as Tahirul Qadri’s case is concerned, he had accused the then Punjab government of the then Chief Minister Nawaz Sharif of having dispatched some hired assassins to kill him at his house in Model Town, Lahore on the night of April 21, 1990. The Sharif government strongly refuted the allegation and set up an inquiry commission of the Lahore High Court on April 30, 1990 to investigate the issue. In its subsequent findings, the commission had declared Qadri a liar while concluding that he actually arranged a fake assassination attempt at his life which was evaluated by leading ballistic experts (in Court) and found to be faked. The Lahore High Court declared him a person of such a mental health who could manipulate and exploit anything for his personal and political gains. The inquiry commission led by Justice Akhtar Hassan wrote in its report that Tahirul Qadri had engineered the so-called murder attempt on himself, which depicted his sick mental health.
Qadri, who has been living in Canada since 2005 after acquiring Canadian citizenship, did not challenge the inquiry commission’s report anywhere. The report had mentioned that on July 9, 1990, when the advocate general was cross questioning Tahirul Qadri with regard to the alleged assassination attempt, he boycotted the proceedings, blaming that Justice Fazal Karim had made up his mind to give an anti-Qadri judgement. Justice Fazal Karim subsequently refused to lead the inquiry commission on July 14, 1990. The Punjab government then appointed Justice Akhtar Hassan as the head of the one-man commission.
The LHC inquiry commission report stated that blood was found on the roof of Qadri’s house and it span long through a line as if someone tried to run away to the neighbour’s house. The commission pointed out while citing the findings of laboratory tests that the blood was not clotted and chemicals were found in it which were probably used to keep it diluted. The inquiry commission concluded that the firing incident at Tahirul Qadri’s residence was concocted and the damage inflicted to his property was a result of his own activities. The commission report had mentioned that Qadri was fond of dreaming and then explaining and exploiting those dreams especially mentioning the name of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). Exploiting dreams related to Holy Prophet (PBUH) depicts the ailing mental condition of Qadri, said the Commission, adding that anything could be expected from such a person.