‘I never gave a penny for household expenses of Banigala,’ says Jahangir Tareen

Jahangir Khan Tareen, a close confidant of Prime Minister Imran Khan and a now-estrange leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), rejected a claim of another former party member retired Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed that he used to fund PM’s household expenses at Banigala, claiming, he “never gave a penny” for the purpose.

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Speaking on Bol News programme ‘Tabdeeli’ recently, retired justice Ahmed had claimed that Tareen used to give up to a Rs5million per month as funds to manage Banigala’s household affairs.

“This belief is totally wrong that Imran Khan is an honest man. His condition is such that he has not been running his own household himself for years,” said the former Supreme Court judge.

“In the beginning, the Jahangir Tareen group used to pay Rs3 million monthly to run his house. Then this amount was increased to Rs5m after it was figured that Rs3 million were not enough to manage Banigala,” retired justice Ahmed added.

Retired justice Ahmed had resigned from the PTI some years ago amid differences with PM Imran. Meanwhile, Tareen’s relationship with the PTI chief also deteriorated in 2020 when the Federal Investi­gation Agency (FIA) started an inquiry against him related to a sugar scam.

Regardless of the current status of my relationship with Imran khan, the truth must be told. I did whatever was in my capacity to help PTI in the quest to build a new Pakistan but I never gave a penny for the household expenses of Bani Gala. Just want to set the record straight.

— Jahangir Khan Tareen (@JahangirKTareen) December 15, 2021

However, in response to retired justice Ahmed’s statement, Tareen took to Twitter on Wednesday and said, “Regardless of the current status of my relationship with [PM] Imran khan, the truth must be told.”

“I did whatever was in my capacity to help PTI in the quest to build a new Pakistan, but I never gave a penny for the household expenses of Banigala.”

“Just want to set the record straight,” Tareen added.

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PTI leaders including Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Political Communication Dr Shahbaz Gill have also rubbished retired justice Ahmed’s accusations as fake.