ECP order on PTI application rejects bias allegations

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has passed an order on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s application that contains serious allegations of bias against the constitutional body. PTI has been asked to submit the sought documents on next date of hearing.

On January 9, 2017, an application was filed by PTI in response to the ECP order of December 1, 2016, asking the party to produce financial documents in the foreign funding case, filed way back in November 2014 by PTI founding member and former Central Vice President Akbar S Babar, alleging serious corruption in managing PTI donations received from allegedly illegal foreign sources.

In its order released Friday, the ECP rejected PTI’s allegations of bias and took strong exception to its use of “filthy and totally false” remarks against a constitutional institution. The order states, “No civilized person is expected to malign constitutional institutions in the manner in which it is so done.”

The order states, “It appears that the legal as well as civilized manners to be adopted in such proceedings are avoided in order to play politics with the institute from which remedies are sought. Such conduct, the Commission highly shuns and deprecates the attitude and politics being played with the Commission.”

In the order, the commission has accepted the apology of the PTI lawyer, however, it notes that “there is no apology on behalf of respondent number 1 (Imran Khan).” The Election Commission ‘criticises’ PTI for its conduct unbecoming of by using inappropriate language casting aspersions on a constitutional institution and it also rejects PTI’s application to review its order to produce financial documents.

Instead the ECP orders PTI to comply with its order of December 1 last year and produce all financial documents on the next date of hearing.

The case has been in limbo since October 8, 2015 when the full bench of ECP rejected PTI’s stance of questioning ECP’s jurisdiction to scrutinise PTI accounts. In November 2015, PTI filed a writ petition in the IHC to suspend ECP scrutiny of its accounts.  However, after waiting for over a year, the ECP finally passed an order on December 1 demanding that PTI should submit all documents including bank statements of PTI employees in whose accounts money was received allegedly from illegal sources. The documents sought included registration of two offshore companies in the US which were used to collect and transmit over $3.0 million to Pakistan in PTI accounts. In April,, 2015, the ECP after scrutiny found no traces of these funds in the PTI audit reports submitted before it.

Taking another step against Imran, Akbar S Babar Friday filed a petition through his counsel Syed Ahmed Hasan seeking contempt proceedings against Imran under article 219(e) of the Constitution.  The petition contends that the PTI application dated January 9, 2017 seeking review of production of financial documents contains statements which are “reprehensible, scandalous and contemptuous towards the Commission.”

It states that after the unconditional apology tendered by the PTI lawyer and withdrawal of the contemptuous review application, rather than being remorseful, the respondent (Imran) has publicly denounced the need for due apology and yet again undermined this honorable commission.

This act in itself is scandalous and contemptuous and renders respondent (Imran Khan) liable to exemplary liability under law. The petition submits statements and tweets made by PTI Chairman Imran Khan and his spokespersons as evidence of PTI and its leadership disowning the lawyer’s unconditional apology, it said.

The petition states that such an attitude would “raise grave questions which if left unattended would make a mockery of the system of justice in general and regulating political parties in particular.”The petition states that such conduct “will if not checked embolden the respondent to remain contemptuous.”  Through the petition, Babar says that, “no one is above the law nor should anyone, no matter how powerful or politically influential be allowed, to persist in such belligerent, willful and flouting disregard of this Honorable Commission and continuing disrespectful conduct.”

The petition states, “It is established that the respondent had duly acknowledged the contents of the contemptuous application and authorised his counsel to file/present the same to the Commission thus rendering him personally liable to all ensuing consequences”.

It is prayed that “the interest of justice demands that the respondent (Imran Khan) be personally summoned to explain why he should not be proceeded against in contempt and face due liability under law.”  The petition seeks that the Election Commission should “take the respondent to task and in the interim order him to cease and desist from such malicious conduct.”