Litigation in the guise of political activism is once again in the spotlight. The government has now invoked the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to probe into alleged foreign funding cases of the PTI, and few of its stalwarts including former prime minister Imran Khan have been formally booked. The case came under the scanner of authorities as the Election Commission was seized with a complaint from a founding member of the party, blaming it for thriving on donations from unrecognised overseas sources. While the PTI has denied any wrongdoing, and wants to come out clean, it too has knocked on the doors of the court, praying that it is a victim of political vilification campaign.
The case, nonetheless, seems to have lost intensity as the Islamabad High Court granted protective bail to Imran Khan till October 18, and made it clear it is willing to hear the case, in case appropriate forums do not move ahead in due course of time. This has, at least, taken steam out of media hype that the case was attaining, predicting a possible arrest of the PTI chief. But the FIA is digging its heels, and it has already rounded up a couple of PTI members, and is sniffing into accounts of the party. The preliminary allegation says that the party has violated the Foreign Exchange Act by being beneficiary of suspicious bank accounts, and having received a transfer of $2.1 million from a renowned business operative.
The PTI cries foul and believes that it is part of a witch-hunt campaign to malign its leadership, as its popularity rules the roost. All said and done, there are surely some skeletons and the repeated submissions from the party clearly point out an act of omission and commission while maintaining accounts. The party should retrospectively look into it, and come out clean by the standards of established norms of law. While politics in Pakistan is on the edgy side, authorities will be better advised to glue themselves to a thorough impartial probe, and not to cross the brink in exigency. The case may be political, but its probe must remain apolitical by all means.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 13th, 2022.
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