Prohibited funding case: PTI moves Islamabad HC against alleged bias of Election Commission of Pakistan
Apr 23, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], April 23 : Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) had filed a petition on Saturday in Islamabad High Court against the alleged bias of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in the prohibited funding case.
The party sought the high court's order to the ECP to announce their decision against the cases of 17 political parties within one month, ARY News reported.
"The election commission demonstrating bias in its proceedings against the PTI," the party pleaded in its petition. "The commission denying scrutiny of the accounts of 17 political parties," the party said.
"The PTI is an affected party of the conduct of the election commission. The election commission should be ordered to scrutinize accounts of 17 political parties," it pleads.
The party further plead that the Pakistan State Bank should conduct the scrutiny of all political parties and should be made the details of these parties' accounts public, reported ARY News.
"The State Bank should conduct scrutiny of the accounts of all political parties. The election commission should make the details of accounts of these parties public after the state bank's report," according to the plea.
"The election commission should hear the cases of these 17 political parties on daily basis and announce its decision within one month," the PTI pleads to the court.
PTI also sought the high court's order to ECP to avoid discrimination against the party, according to ARY News.
The petition has been filed by Anwar Mansoor and Shah Khawar in Islamabad HC on behalf of PTI leader Amir Kayani.
The PTI has made 17 political parties respondents in the petition along with the election commission.
These parties included the PML-N, PPP, MQM, Jamaat Islami, Awami Muslim League, Tehreek-e-Labbaik, BAP, BNP, ANP and others, as reported by ARY News.
The foreign funding case is pending since November 14, 2014, and it was filed by PTI founding member Akbar S Babar who had alleged that there are some financial irregularities in the PTI's funding from Pakistan and abroad.
On January 4 this year, the ECP's scrutiny committee submitted its report on the PTI's foreign funding case after 95 hearings. The ECP's committee was formed in March 2018.
The report was based on eight volumes of records collected through the State Bank of Pakistan, proved that the PTI leaders had committed the violations of funding laws by allowing the collection of millions of dollars and billions of Pakistani Rupees without any source and details from foreigners, as per reported by Dawn.
