ISLAMABAD - The Scrutiny Committee of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) met again on Thursday to restart scrutiny of PTI foreign funding after the commission had rejected the 1st report of the Scrutiny Committee.
Rejecting the earlier report of the committee the commission had termed it “neither complete nor well-detailed in all respects” in its order of August 27.
The ECP order had validated the concerns of the petitioner Akbar S. Babar and PTI founding member regarding the lack of transparency and credibility of the scrutiny process.
The ECP in its order had reprimanded the committee by stating that “it was the duty and responsibility of the committee to scrutinise the authenticity and reliability and credibility of each and every document submitted by both parties and after proper scrutiny of documents.”
The ECP order of August 27, 2020 had ordered the Committee to conduct afresh scrutiny and complete it in six weeks which is reported to be ended on October 22. Meanwhile, sources in the scrutiny committee revealed that when the committee met it presented PTI with the evidence of alleged illegal funding from the US thru two companies registered in the US by PTI under the signatures of PTI Chairman Imran Khan. The evidence was first submitted by the complainant in November 2014.
Petitioner and founding member of PTI Akbar S Babar laments case progress going at a snail’s pace
The petitioner’s lawyer Syed Ahmad Hassan Shah assisted by Badar Iqbal Chaudhry emphasized that the illegal funding from the US was just part of staggering evidence of illegal funding that includes concealment of accounts, illegal sources of funds, donations received in front accounts of PTI employees where money was received through Hundi.
He said the August 27 ECP order was clear that each and every piece of evidence would have to be scrutinised, validated or rejected including the 23 PTI bank accounts revealed on the instructions of the State Bank of Pakistan.
PTI is expected to respond to the evidence presented in the next meeting scheduled for October 19. Talking to the media, the petitioner and founding member of PTI Akbar S Babar lamented the fact that despite passage of almost six years, the validation of evidence process had just started. He said he was determined to pursue the case to its logical end as its outcome would expose political charlatans and set a new tradition of holding political leadership accountable for their actions.
He said the failure of political institutions to deliver justice had weakened democracy in Pakistan; adding that the foreign funding case was a living example of what Imran Khan would preach that there are two sets of rules for justice; one for the powerful and the other for the weak.