ECP to decide PTI foreign funding case in a few months

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will decide the PTI foreign funding case – perhaps one of the longest ever pending cases – in next few months, a senior official confided to The News.

Akbar S Babar, who remained a close confidante of PTI Chairman Imran Khan, had filed the petition on November 14, 2014, alleging financial irregularities in the foreign funding of the party.

The reason why the end of the case is not in sight is that the Commission has not given any timeline to its scrutiny committee to furnish its findings on the documents made available to it by the petitioner, PTI and the State Bank of Pakistan.

The case witnessed various hiccups and at one stage, the Commission directed the State Bank of Pakistan to share details of all accounts operated and maintained by the PTI. The related documents i.e. details of PTI 23 bank statements were shared with the Commission scrutiny several months back.

The Commission also had to face the crucial phase of appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and its two members. The official said the prime reason for delay was the complexity of the case and various phases.

“This is a political issue, having nothing to do with reality. Mr. Babar is playing in the hands of opposition. Our PTI finance, headed by Sardar Azhar Tariq, then finance secretary, had maintained transparency and the accounts were duly audited by a firm every year. So, there is no question of any wrongdoing,” asserted a senior PTI member when his comment was sought on the matter.