Prohibited funding case: ECP rejects PTI’s objections related to scrutiny committee

ISLAMABAD: The electoral entity has rejected the request of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to cross-examine the members of Scrutiny Committee that probed former ruling party’s finances in prohibited funding case.

A three-member ECP bench, to this effect, issued its verdict on Wednesday, which was reserved in December last year, rejecting the PTI’s objections related to Scrutiny Committee.

Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja headed the bench.

In the hearing of the case, the CEC said that the Islamabad High Court (IHC), in a related case, did not stop the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) from proceeding further in the case. Therefore, he said, the bench would now proceed ahead in this case.

The defence lawyer stated that the IHC directed the ECP to hear respondents in prohibited funding case.

The CEC said that the ECP issued show cause notice to PTI in this case in August last year and the defence side sought six weeks to submit related reply along with record that was to be acquired from other countries.

“Now more than six months have gone passed,” he said. After hearing arguments of the defence side, the ECP bench then adjourned the case till 28th.

The PTI had moved the ECP with the request that it wanted to cross-examine the members of the scrutiny panel in prohibited funding case related to PTI.

On August 2, last year, the ECP announced the much-hyped and long-awaited verdict in the prohibited funding case. After the verdict was issued, the commission came under massive criticism from the PTI and public circles over alleged discrepancies in the 70-page written order on prohibited funding case.

Scores of overseas Pakistanis appeared on electronic and social media to lambaste the electoral body for naming them as foreign donors, who, according to the ECP, sent illegal donations to PTI — in prohibited funding case verdict.

The ECP’s order also contained details of funds received by the PTI from some 34 foreign nationals and 351 foreign-based companies but the funding record provided by the ECP in the verdict was strongly disputed by the overseas Pakistanis with several companies that were shown as foreign donor entities were found to be belonging to overseas Pakistanis.

While the ECP announced its verdict in prohibited funding case related to PTI, the similar cases against Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People Party (PPP) continue to remain pending in ECP and the related scrutiny panel has not yet submitted its report to the electoral body regarding these cases yet.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023