PTI challenges ECP’s decision in IHC

ECP had rejected the party's petitions in the foreign funding case

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Friday challenged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) March 18 decision of rejecting the party’s plea to disassociate petitioner Akbar S Babar from the foreign funding case in the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

The ruling party also challenged the ECP’s decision which rejected the petitions filed on January 25 and January 31. The petition rejected by the ECP, on PTI’s decision of not providing Babar with the party’s response on the scrutiny committee report, has also been challenged.

The party prayed upon the court to accept both petitions rejected by the ECP.

“Both the petitions were rejected by the election commission and we pray that the order dated March 15, 2022, be declared null and void. The Election Commission of Pakistan is an administrative authority, not a court of law. A three-member bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja had decided to reject the petitions. Only bound to ECP to declare funds’ details,” the petition stated.

Read More: PTI has declared 11 accounts of party leaders illegal: Babar

It further contended that Babar should be separated from the case and PTI’s reply to the scrutiny committee report should not be given to him for the time being.

It should be noted that the foreign funding case has been pending in ECP since November 2014. The petitions filed in the IHC against the foreign funding case were disposed of as Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani returned the case to the commission on January 29, 2018.

A day earlier, a founding member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and petitioner in the party's foreign funding case, Akbar S Babar, claimed that the party has declared 11 of its own accounts illegal in the case.
During a press conference in Islamabad, Babar stated that the foreign funding case has been ongoing for eight years while the scrutiny committee also took four years.

“The State Bank of Pakistan’s records show that PTI has disassociated itself from 11 accounts containing Rs23 million, claiming they are illegal,” the petitioner added.

According to the estranged PTI leader, the accounts belonged to National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, Governor Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Shah Farman, Governor Sindh Imran Ismail and Mian Mahmood Rashid and Ahmed Rashid.

The petitioner said that "declaring the accounts illegal means the ruling party mistrusts its own people".

“In light of this, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) should take notice and the 11 people whose accounts have been declared illegal should resign immediately,” he added.