ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan on Monday reserved its verdict in the foreign funding case against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and directed the party to submit complete details till 18th September.
A five-member bench of the ECP headed by Chief Election Commissioner Justice (Retd) Sardar Raza Khan heard the case. In his remarks, the Chief Election Commissioner Sardar Raza Khan said orders instead of notices will be issued from tomorrow. He said decision will be given in the favour of petitioner Akbar S Babar if PTI failed to submit complete details. The CEC expressed his annoyance at PTI’s continuous failure to submit the details of party funds with the ECP despite repeated directions by the Commission.
He observed that for the last three years nothing was submitted in the ECP despite direction. The PTI counsel asked for two more weeks to submit the party’s funding details, to which the CEC responded, “What should we infer from your repeated delays?”
The PTI counsel informed the ECP that the Islamabad High Court had observed that a party’s funding details cannot be shared with other parties. The CEC responded that first the party should share with ECP its funding details and then worry about it being shared with others.
The CEC also expressed displeasure at the constant changing of lawyers by the PTI throughout the case. Hearing PTI founding member Akbar Babar’s petition on September 7, the ECP had given PTI the ‘last chance’ to submits its funding details.
Speaking to the media after the hearing, Babar offered to appear before the Supreme Court to provide the facts of the case. Akbar S Babar said PTI submitted fake and incomplete documents before the commission. He said PTI has become a funding mafia, which should be exposed. INP