Islamabad (LTN NEWS): After the British newspaper Financial Times (FT) published a story about how the PTI got money from cricket matches organized by Wootton Cricket Ltd, a company owned by Abraaj Group founder Arif Naqvi, PML-N leader Mohammad Zubair said on Saturday that it was time for PTI leader Imran Khan to “come clean” about his party’s finances and challenge the FT story in court.
At a press conference in Islamabad, Zubair also asked the Supreme Court to take notice on its own and call Imran to court in the eight-year-old prohibited funding case, of which the FT story was a “small part.”
Zubair’s comments are the latest in a long line of criticisms of the PTI over the prohibited funding case and call for the case to be closed by the ruling coalition.
The prohibited funding case, which used to be called the foreign funding case, was filed on November 14, 2014, by Akbar S. Babar. Babar was one of the people who started the PTI, but he is no longer a part of it. He had said that the party’s funding from Pakistan and other countries had serious problems.
Last month, the ECP put off making a decision on the case.
The FT published a story on Friday by Simon Clark, who wrote The Key Man, a book about how business tycoon Arif Naqvi did business. In the story, Clark explained how money from charity cricket matches was used to help PTI grow.
The report says that fees were paid to Wootton Cricket Ltd, which, despite its name, was a company registered in the Cayman Islands and owned by Naqvi. The money was used to pay for the PTI.
This led to more calls for the end of the case about illegal funding, and leaders of the coalition that is currently in power were very critical of Imran and the PTI.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was one of them. He wrote on Twitter, “Could it get any worse? The PTI’s claims of being honest and doing the right thing have been shown to be a lie by a story in the Financial Times that shows how money from other countries has been going into PTI bank accounts. Imran Niazi is full of huge inconsistencies, lies, and hypocrisy.
The prime minister also dared Imran to sue FT for defamation “because they published an article that was bad about him.”
Zubair said at today’s press conference that he was repeating PM Shehbaz’s call for Imran to “account for [his party’s] financing here and file a case against FT.” He was talking about the premier’s tweets.
“File a case, and everyone will know what’s going on,” he said.
Zubair said more about the FT story by saying that it was just a story about how illegal money collected for charity was sent to the PTI’s account. “And no one even said it.”
He said that now Imran and the whole PTI leadership had a chance.
“If you want to keep putting yourself forward as the most honest person, sue FT for libel and get an apology. “And if they (FT) don’t apologize, take them to court in Britain,” he said again.
He also criticized the PTI leadership for how the party defended itself after the story came out.
“They say that everyone in the country knows that Imran Khan was raising money,” Zubair said. “However, there are clear ways to raise money. There are strict rules everywhere for getting money, moving it, putting it in an account, and then declaring it in your own country.
“You, on the other hand, say that you won’t explain where your money went,” he said.
“CJP should take notice on its own”
Zubair also asked Pakistan’s Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial to take action on his own in the case of illegal funding and call Imran to court.
“Why doesn’t he call Imran to him? What is his name? If everyone in Pakistan can explain how they spend their money, why can’t Imran Khan? “He questioned.
He went on to say that if Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the PML-N, could go to court and be held accountable more than once, why couldn’t Imran?
