Islamabad: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday granted PTI Chairman Imran Khan a seven-day protective bail in a case filed against him by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) over his alleged involvement in prohibited funding for his party.
Speaking to the media after the proceedings, Imran Khan said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was the “only party” with “legal political fund-raising”.
The FIA on Tuesday booked Imran Khan and ten other PTI leaders for their alleged involvement in receiving prohibited funds. The case was lodged by the FIA Commercial Banking Circle Islamabad.
The Agency alleged the Abraaj Group transferred $2100,000 to the PTI account in the branch of a bank situated at Jinnah Avenue in Islamabad.
“The purpose stated in the swift messages of the transactions is agreed transfer to disguise the true nature, origin, location, movement, and ownership of these funds. Arif Masood Naqvi is also the founder/owner of Abraaj Group, UAE, which collapsed in 2018. Arif Masood Naqvi lied about the performance of Abraaj’s funds by inflating their value,” the FIR stated.
It further said that Naqvi was also facing trials in the United Kingdom and the United States for defrauding investors.
The complaint named Imran Khan, Sardar Azhar Tariq Khan, Saifullah Khan Nyazee, Syed Yunus Ali Raza, Aamer Mehmood Kiani, Tariq Rahim Sheikh, Tariq Shafi, Faisal Maqbool Shaikh, Hamid Zaman and Manzoor Ahmad Chaudhary as signatories/beneficiaries of the PTI account in question.
To avoid arrest, the former Prime Minister approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday seeking protective bail. Imran Khan approached the IHC through his counsel, Salman Safdar.
The plea was taken up by IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah today. During the proceedings, the CJ asked where the petitioner was. Imran’s lawyer replied that if the court wanted, Imran Khan would appear before it. He said that Imran Khan could not attend the hearing due to “extraordinary circumstances”.
چیئرمین پی ٹی آئی عمران خان اسلام آباد ہائیکورٹ پہنچ گئے۔
— PTI (@PTIofficial) October 12, 2022
PTI received ‘prohibited funding’: ECP announces verdict
On August 2, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced its long-awaited verdict in the prohibited funding case, saying that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) did receive funding from prohibited sources.
A three-member bench comprising CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja and ECP members Nisar Ahmed Durrani and Shah Muhammad Jatoi announced the verdict.
CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja said that the party received funds from 34 unknown sources and hid 13 accounts from the electoral body. The list of funding sources also included donors from Australia, UAE and the US.
“The party accepted funds from a US business personality,” it added. The ECP declared that the affidavit submitted by the party related to funds was false.
