ISLAMABAD, Aug 2: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) here on Tuesday gave a unanimous verdict in the PTI prohibited funding case holding the party guilty of receiving prohibited funds from abroad, Geo News reported. The case popularly known as the “foreign funding” case, has now come to be known as the “prohibited funding” case after the PTI made a plea in this regard.
The ECP on Monday released the cause list for the case which showed that 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 expos 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 political 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.
According tor reports despite Babar’s repeated attempts to convince Khan that some of PTI’s top leaders were involved in financial wrongdoings, the party chairman turned a blind eye eventually leading to the ex-PTI leader filing a case in the ECP.
The PTI is unlikely to accept the decision if it does not favour them as even before being ousted from power, ex-Prime Minister Khan and his party had repeatedly criticised the ECP and the CEC, time and again maintaining that the ECP needs to be reconstituted before the country heads towards the next general elections and has also levelled serious allegations against the body, which the ECP has rejected.
The sources also 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. 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. (UNI)
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