Islamabad: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday rejected a petition filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) against the verdict of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in a case related to the prohibited funding of the party.
A larger bench of the IHC, comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, Justice Miangul Hassan, and Justice Babar Sattar, verbally announced the short verdict today, which it had reserved on January 11.
The case
On August 2, 2022, the ECP, in a unanimous verdict, announced that the PTI did indeed receive prohibited funding. The case, which was earlier referred to as the “foreign funding” case, was later renamed as a “prohibited funding case” on PTI’s plea.
The ECP had found that donations were received by the PTI from America, Australia, Canada, and the UAE.
“The PTI received funds from 34 individuals and 351 businesses, including companies,” the ECP verdict had stated.
Later in the same month, the PTI moved the IHC, seeking annulment of the order passed by the ECP.
During the hearing, the court had observed that the ECP’s responsibility was merely to do what the Constitution permitted — which was limited to the confiscation of funds.
While the ECP claimed that it had no power to change its decision, the court had observed that should the PTI present in the court satisfactory evidence — proving the legitimacy of the funds — the amount would not be confiscated.
The PTI counsel had argued that the ECP had declared it a “foreign-aided” party and had rejected the declaration of PTI chief Imran Khan false.
“Political parties’ finances are looked after by a chartered accountant,” he argued. “The ECP has targeted PTI.”
