Prohibited case: Former ruling party in for a long-winded legal wrangle

In April 2017, the PML-N celebrated the verdict in the Panama Papers’ case without realising what it entailed for them. “Celebrations,” PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz had tweeted and shared photos of her father Nawaz Sharif, uncle Shehbaz Sharif and other party leaders, who were all smile and jubilant over the Supreme Court’s split decision which neither gave a clean chit nor disqualified the former prime minister but ordered the formation of a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe the case further.

The PML-N didn’t realise back then that it was just calm before the storm; it massively downplayed the decision, and Ahsan Iqbal had declared it “a historic victory”. Conversely, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry had chided the PML-N leadership, saying they didn’t seem to have read the full judgment and haven’t realised what has actually happened to them. Former financial czar Asad Umar had tweeted that “not a single judge found Nawaz Sharif innocent”. Nevertheless, the Panama case judgment made both the PML-N and the PTI ecstatic and they celebrated it.

Fast forward to the Election Commission of Pakistan’s Tuesday’s decision found that the PTI received funding from prohibited sources; it got funds from 34 foreign nationals and 351 foreign-based companies; it hid 13 accounts; and Form-1 submitted by PTI Chairman Imran Khan is “grossly inaccurate”. The ECP also issued a notice to the PTI to explain why funds shouldn’t be confiscated.

Surprisingly, the PML-N and the PTI have once again celebrated the ECP’s judgment; Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif terming it a charge-sheet against Imran Khan while the PTI leadership downplaying the verdict just like the PML-N did in the Panama case.

Following the ECP judgment, Fawad defended the PTI chairman by saying that Imran Khan only signed audited accounts when he was told that all the accounts were legal. While blaming the accountants, Fawad said how Imran Khan could have declared hidden accounts when he was not even aware about them, saying the PTI chief simply believed his accountants. Asad Umar said that people trust Imran Khan and that’s why they sent their money to him, adding there was no threat to Imran Khan’s political future.

Neither the PML-N realised back then how painful the judgment would turn out to be nor does PTI appear to be in a mood to even accept that all is not well for it as the decision will trigger a series of legal challenges at a time when it is gearing up for the next general elections.

“The immediate threat of dissolution of the party is over but the larger threat is still looming large on the PTI,” renowned constitutional expert Hafiz Ahsaan Ahmad Khokhar said. “There will be little chance to challenge the ECP notice as it has sought explanation from the PTI,” the expert said, adding challenging the notice before a high court would be struck down on the grounds of maintainability and the PTI will have to reply to notice and then the ECP would give a final judgment in the case.

Khokhar also poured cold water on celebrations in the government’s camp by saying that the federal government can’t take any action by itself until the ECP sends a reference to the federal government, saying the ECP has so far only sent a copy of the decision to it which, too, was beyond the mandate given in the Political Parties Order of 2002.

“Right now, the federal government has nothing in its hands; all it can do is to issue political statements,” Khokhar said, saying any action taken by the federal will likely be set aside by courts.

He explained that the “moot point before the Supreme Court would be the words mentioned in law, the receipt of substantial or portion of foreign funding or the application of the Election Act 2017 with prospective or retrospective effect in case the order of ECP would be challenged before the superior courts.”

Renowned political analyst Mazhar Abbas said that the Political Parties Order, 2002, and the Election Act, 2017 are very clear, saying accepting donations, contribution from foreigners, multinational companies or foreign country completely prohibited under the law. “All is not well for the PTI in this verdict whether they accept it or not,” he tweeted.

Political and legal experts said that equating a political party with a corporate entity was a false argument in its entirety, adding that blaming the accountants was like blaming the knives. They said that the PTI was currently in a state of denial because the case might take months if it is continuously heard under the PPO, 2002.

However, they added, if ECP applies the Election Act of 2017 retrospectively, then the matter could be concluded within a few weeks or months and that might not spell well for the PTI when it finally goes into elections.