Foreign funding case: PTI plea challenging ECP jurisdiction thrown out

IHC ruling opens way for poll body to proceed against Imran’s party

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday dismissed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf ‘s (PTI) petition challenging jurisdiction of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in a case related to funding of the party from foreign sources.

By dismissing the petition, the IHC Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani also enabled the ECP to proceed against the PTI in the case pending before the ECP since November 2014. The court has dismissed the petition on grounds that it has become ‘infructuous’.



The case is pertaining to an inquiry into the foreign funding of the PTI on the application of Akbar S Babar, a disgruntled member of the PTI. It was Babar who had initially taken the matter to the ECP.

While the petition was pending before IHC, the Supreme Court ruled on a petition of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PLM-N) Hanif Abbasi that the ECP can investigate the matter of funding received from prohibited sources on its own or on the application of the third party.

On the previous hearing, the PTI’s counsel had argued that the foreign funding case was based on mala fide intent and may not be heard by the ECP.

Justice Kayani remarked that all his objections challenging the ECP jurisdiction had been addressed by the Supreme Court judgment while deciding a petition of the PML-N.

In the petition, the PTI Chairman Imran Khan had challenged jurisdiction of ECP as well as its order of May 8 in the case. Khan had challenged the ECP’s decision, saying that the ECP did not have jurisdiction under the Political Parties Order (PPO), 2002, to adjudicate complaints filed by citizens.

The PTI chairman had said the PPO does not provide a framework of a tribunal for adjudication of complaints and scrutiny of accounts. He said that accounts submitted by the petitioner are past and closed transaction and to declare that Akbar S Babar has no ‘locus standi’.



He had made the ECP and Babar respondents. In the order passed on May 8, the ECP dismissed objection qua jurisdiction of the commission and held that the ECP has all and plenary jurisdiction to go into and scrutinise the accounts of a political party at any time.

The ECP order read that the PTI counsel could not produce any direct authority to the effect that the record of the commission cannot be gone into or scrutinised by the ECP itself.

The PTI first challenged the ECP’s jurisdiction in November 2015 after a detailed verdict of the ECP issued on October 8, 2015, expressing its complete authority to scrutinise the PTI accounts.

On February 17, 2017, the IHC remanded the case back to ECP to re-hear about its jurisdiction and locus standi of the petitioner. On May 8, 2017 the ECP passed a detailed judgment reasserting its jurisdiction and emphatically stating that Babar is still a member of the PTI and has all the legal right to file the case.

 

Once again the PTI challenged the ECP’s May 8, 2017 ruling, seeking IHC injunction to stop proceedings in the ECP. After several hearings, IHC finally reserved judgment on January 26 and announced it on Monday.  The ECP is expected to take up the case on February 7.