IHC rejects PTI stay plea in foreign funding case

ISLAMABAD: Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) here on Wednesday declined PTI request to issue stay order regarding the functioning of a committee constituted by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to scrutinise the PTI’s foreign funds.

IHC bench, however, issued notices to the ECP and Akbar S Babar putting of in this matter till June 11.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has filed a petition seeking to set aside the ECP order dated March 12 through which poll supervisory body had ordered to form a fresh ECP committee for the scrutiny of PTI's foreign funds.

Petitioner has nominated the ECP and a PTI's dissident member Akbar S Babar as respondents. Babar is the founding member of the PTI and he had raised the issue of scrutinising PTI's foreign funds as according to him there were anomalies. Despite IHC and Supreme Court directions in this matter, this still remained unresolved without adjudication for the last four years.

The petitioner, through his counsel Babar Awan, advocate, has maintained in the petition that previously a three members committee to scrutinise party’s funds. That committee stood dissolved as two of its members had distanced themselves from the proceedings due to their personal reason. Later, the second committee was formed through March 12 order whose terms of reference were voilative to the orders and directions of the Supreme Court and IHC.

According to the petitioner, that committee shared confidential documents with Akbar S Babar, who made those documents public through his social media accounts. An IHC bench on September 7, 2017, had directed the ECP not to share those documents with anyone.

Petitioner Imran Khan contended that the participation of Akbar S Babar is against the IHC and Supreme Court orders. Akbar did not come up with clean hands, and he filed an application before the ECP after being expelled from the party. The petitioner has prayed to the court to set aside the ECP order dated March 12 and also the proceedings initiated by the committee declaring these unlawful and void.