Foreign funding: SC registrar throws out PTI’s petitions against PPP, PML-N

Says the petitioners have not approached the appropriate forum under law

ISLAMABAD: The top court has refused to entertain the PTI’s constitutional petitions seeking a probe into the accounts of the PPP and the PML-N for the parties’ alleged funding by foreign sponsors.

The petitions, filed by PTI leaders Asad Umar and Shireen Mazari, alleged that the PML-N and the PPP received funds from foreign and forbidden sources.  They requested the court to form a judicial commission to investigate the parties’ funds and to withdraw their election symbols.

The PTI leaders requested the apex court to impose a ban on the PML-N for acting against the ‘integrity and sovereignty’ of Pakistan. They also sought disqualification of the PPP and PML-N chiefs who, they alleged, had submitted false certificates regarding their parties’ funds.



The SC registrar office, however, returned both the constitutional petitions after raising the objection that the petitioners had not approached any other appropriate forum available to them under the law. Likewise, it said, they did not provide any justification for not doing so.

“The certificate provided at page 14 of this constitution petition does not fulfill the requirements of Order XXV of Rule 6 of the Supreme Court Rules, 1980,” said the registrar’s order.

Talking to The Express Tribune, the PTI’s counsel Chaudhry Faisal Hussain said an appeal would be filed against the registrar office’s objections today (Tuesday).

“The issue of maintainability is purely a question of law and it can only be decided on the judicial side. The registrar office, under the law, is not vested with the authority to decide upon the maintainability of the petition,” he said.



He said a similar petition against the PTI – in Hanif Abbasi case – was still being adjudicated by the apex court’s three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar.

“Hence, in the larger interest of justice it is deemed appropriate to request for the removal of the objections and fixing the matter in hand, before the same bench –  if it is deemed appropriate – to ensure the enforcement of the fundamental rights of public,” Faisal said.

He said it would be just and fair to request for equal treatment in accordance with Article 25 of the Constitution to fix the petitions on identical matters before the court.