ECP to announce PTI's foreign funding case verdict today at 10am

By Muhammad JuniadPublished On 04 Jan 2023

• The verdict will be announced by a three-member bench.
• ECP reserved the verdict on June 21.
• The case was filed in 2014 by Akbar S Babar.

ISLAMABAD: The verdict in the PTI prohibited funding case which was reserved on June 21  will be announced today (Tuesday) at 10 am.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday released the cause list for the case. According to the cause list, the verdict will be announced by a three-member bench led by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja.

The decision to announce the verdict comes after a Financial Times exposé revealed that the PTI received funding from Wootton Cricket Club belonging to Abraaj founder Arif Naqvi. The funds were generated through a charity match and an Arab personality also pitched in a large sum of money.

The FT report provided ammunition to the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), and they demanded an early announcement of the verdict — in the case which was filed in 2014 by PTI founding member Akbar S Babar.

Earlier, ECP officials, on the condition of anonymity, told Daily Jang that the election commission will announce the foreign funding verdict during the first week of August.

The sources said that the PTI would only harm itself if it files a reference against the CEC as certain matters which were earlier hidden from public view would be revealed during the hearings.

They said that the ECP is a constitutional body and will continue to follow the constitutional path.

“The ECP will not bow to any blackmailing and will not come under any pressure. No political party is a favourite of the election commission and neither is any a non-favourite. Those who are following the law are standing with the ECP.”

When the attention of these sources was drawn to the announcement of PTI Chairman Imran Khan to file a judicial reference against the ECP and the CEC, they said that this was an attempt to create a smoke screen ahead of the verdict.

The investigations into international money laundering have been completed, they added.

PTI hid funds worth millions of rupees from ECP: report

The PTI hid funds worth millions of rupees from the ECP, the report of an ECP scrutiny committee probing the party's funds revealed on January 4.

The report stated that the PTI provided "false information" regarding the party's funding to the ECP. It said that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) bank statement revealed that the party had received Rs1.64 billion in funding.

According to the report, the party did not disclose funding worth more than Rs310 million to the ECP.

The scrutiny committee was formed in 2019 to audit foreign funding received by the PTI.