PTI’s foreign funding case: ECP scrutiny body misses yet another deadline today

ISLAMABAD: The committee of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), formed in March 2018 to complete scrutiny of PTI's foreign funding in one month, again failed to meet the latest deadline set by ECP on August 27, 2020 to furnish a scrutiny report in six weeks, ending today (Thursday).

Hence, apparently, there seems no end to the PTI’s foreign funding case, filed way back in November 2014 and this is perhaps the longest continuing case in the ECP. The three-member committee’s earlier report was rejected outright and the same forum was given six weeks to prepare a fresh scrutiny report.

Wednesday's meeting was stormy as the petitioner's lawyer Syed Ahmad Hassan Shah threatened to walk out if the PTI's latest response to alleged illegal funding from the US was not shared with him. The committee adjourned proceedings without setting a fresh date as it has sought directions from the ECP one more time after expiry of yet another deadline to conclude the forensic scrutiny of PTI accounts.