Islamabad (LTN NEWS): The case, which was brought by Akbar S. Babar, one of the party’s founders, has been going on since November 14, 2014. Babar, who is no longer a part of PTI, had said that the party’s money from Pakistan and other countries was coming from shady sources.
The PTI has denied doing anything wrong and says that the money is not coming from illegal sources.
Today’s hearing was led by a group of judges led by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja. CEC Raja said that the case against the PTI was over, and he also said that the election watchdog wanted to finish the cases against other political parties as well.
He went on to say that the ECP wanted to win back the trust of voters and make the country stronger democratically. At the end of the hearing, the commission didn’t decide how to rule on the case yet, but CEC Raja said that if necessary, the respondents could be called back.
During today’s hearing, Arsalan Wardak, the financial expert for petitioner Babar, said that it was an “established fact” that money came from Britain. He also said that no one knew where the money that came from Canada came from.
“The registration number for Wootton Cricket Limited has been given, and the company sent money. From another company in the United Arab Emirates, they got another $49,000 “he said, adding that the PTI didn’t say it didn’t get the money.
The financial expert also said that the lists of donors were missing a few pieces of information. “The PTI got money from thirteen countries. The Rs20 million was sent to the PTI chairman’s office, but there is no record of it “he said.
Wardak said that 41 of the 50 banks did not answer the scrutiny committee’s questions, which could mean that there are more accounts than we know about. He said that the PTI didn’t follow the rules and principles of auditing.
He said that the donations came from companies owned by the PTI, not from outside companies.
When Babar took the stand, he said that this was the first time in the history of the country that a political party had told the election commission about how it got its money. He said, “Every political party should have to answer to the ECP.”
The ECP’s scrutiny committee, which was set up in March 2018 to look into the PTI’s foreign funding in a month, finally turned in its report on January 4, 2019, after 95 hearings and almost four years.
Based on eight volumes of records requested through the State Bank of Pakistan, the report showed that the PTI leadership had broken many funding laws by letting foreigners, including Indians and foreign companies, give millions of dollars and billions of rupees without giving any information about where the money came from or who gave it.
“When you become a role model, you can’t help but change,” Babar said. He went on to say that this was the first time in Pakistan’s history that the founders of a political party had come forward to make it a good example for others to follow.
He said that he hoped the ECP would not let this “momentous occasion” go by. He also said that the ECP had the chance to change the course of politics in Pakistan.
“They (ECP) have the proof, and it has the arguments. Don’t look at how popular the leader of the political party is. Instead, make a decision based on the law and the Constitution.
Farrukh Habib of the PTI asked the ECP to follow the instructions from the Supreme Court and the Islamabad High Court. He also asked the commission to end the hearings about the PML-N and the PPP.
“We’ve been told for seven years that this is a case of foreign funding, but in the end, the ECP also agreed that it was a case of illegal funding,” he said.
He also said that the party had given all the records related to the case and emphasized that all the money had been sent through banks.
Babar told the press outside the ECP that he was happy that the case’s verdict had finally been put on hold. He also thanked his lawyers, his team, and everyone else who helped him fight for justice.
“From the beginning, the goal was to make PTI a good example. That’s why we fought this case. I didn’t have a grudge or a problem with my ego, He also said that he had worked for a long time to make the PTI.
