ISLAMABAD
\nThe Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday strongly rejected the allegation of receiving foreign funding from prohibited sources. During the hearing of the party\u2019s foreign funding case in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Anwar Mansoor, PTI\u2019s counsel, said that all the funds the party had received from abroad were from Pakistanis.
\nA three-member bench of the ECP, headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja, heard the case.
\nPTI\u2019s counsel argued that only the funding received from multinational companies should be considered \u2018prohibited\u2019. \u201cNone of the funds the party has received from the USA is from any prohibited source,\u201d he said.
\nHe went on to say that the ECP\u2019s scrutiny committee had rejected the documents submitted by both the PTI and Akbar S. Babar, the petitioner in the case. \u201cBut the committee did not inform us of the reasons for rejecting these papers,\u201d he said.
\nAdvocate Mansoor was of the view that the committee could not do so since it did not have any forensic expert in it. \u201cThe committee\u2019s report is not that by a forensic expert, but by an auditor,\u201d he contended.
\nCounsel for the PTI strongly rejected the claim that Dubai-based Wootton Cricket Club and Bristol company were multinational firms. Quoting Wootton Cricket Club\u2019s owner Arif Naqvi, Advocate Mansoor said that the club belonged to him and him alone, and was no means a multinational firm.
\nGiving details of the funds received from Europe, he said Kareem Saadat and Waseem Muhammad both sent over 1, 000 Euros each to the party, while Nauman Ali had sent 495 Euros. \u201cOver 33, 000 Euros were sent to the PTI during the years, 2012-13,\u201d he disclosed. He said only from Sweden and Switzerland, 4026 Euros were received. \u201cAnd the money from both these countries was deposited in the party\u2019s bank accounts by individuals; and not by firms,\u201d he clarified. PTI\u2019s counsel told the commission that E-Plant was the name of a Trust, and not of a company. The ECP adjourned hearing of the case until tomorrow (Wednesday, May 18, 2022).
\nLater, talking to the media, Akbar S. Babar, the petitioner in PTI foreign funding case, expressed the optimism that at the end of the day he would succeed. \u201cTomorrow, PTI members will submit to the ECP details of their bank accounts,\u201d he said.
\nBabar said he was sure that PTI Chairman Imran Khan would now try to pressure the ECP, the Supreme Court and the \u2018establishment\u2019 in order to get the decisions of his choice. \u201cPolitics of confrontation will destroy Pakistan,\u201d he said, and stressed the need for saving the country\u2019s economy.
\nMeanwhile, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) adjourned hearing of the intra-court appeal filed against the court order of deciding the PTI foreign funding case until May 30.
\nDuring the hearing, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah remarked that the PTI\u2019s concerns over the court order were genuine, since it gave the impression that only one party was being singled out. \u201cThe party\u2019s demand for the provision of a level playing field was genuine. Deciding foreign funding case of any party before others will have implications for the country\u2019s politics,\u201d he observed. =DNA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday strongly rejected the allegation of receiving foreign funding from prohibited sources. During the hearing of the party\u2019s foreign funding case in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Anwar Mansoor, PTI\u2019s counsel, said that all the funds the party had received from abroad were from Pakistanis. A three-member bench […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":260977,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[39,1088,7333,158],"class_list":{"0":"post-261001","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news","8":"tag-ecp","9":"tag-funds","10":"tag-prohibited-sources","11":"tag-pti"},"yoast_head":"\n