ECP adjourns PTI funding case hearing till March 05

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday adjourned foreign funding case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) till March 05, ARY News reported.

A five-member bench of the ECP headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan heard the case.

PTI’s Secretary General Aamir Mehmood failed to appear before the election commission in the party’s funding case hearing.

The election commission on orders of the CEC re-issued summon to the party’s secretary general for the next hearing of the case.

Akbar S. Babar had filed the foreign funding case in the Election Commission way back in November 2014, alleging irregularities in the foreign funding of the party, which PTI has been denying outright.

Prime Minister Imran Khan had challenged the Islamabad High Court decision with regard to the PTI membership of Akbar S. Babar in the Supreme Court in January as the chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

The petition in the apex court said that Akbar S. Babar have no links with the PTI since Year 2011.

“The Islamabad High Court in its decision termed Akbar S. Babar a member of the PTI,” according to the petition. “The high court could not decide a matter on the basis of disputed facts while exercising powers under Article 199.”

The IHC didn’t take into account the decision of the Supreme Court, petition said. ” Akbar S. Babar’s appearing before the scrutiny committee is against the law. He is not an affected party so as the election commission could not hear the case on his petition”.

Imran Khan pleaded to the apex court to declare the IHC decision with regard to Akbar S. Babar’s membership of PTI as null and void.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had filed a petition in the high court on Nov. 7 to challenge the ECP’s October 10 decision which had rejected the party’s applications against an audit of its foreign funding.

PTI writ petition filed in the IHC had challenged the ECP scrutiny committee to audit the party’s foreign funding and PTI membership of Akbar S. Babar, was dismissed by a bench of the high court in July last year.