Govt to file disqualification reference against Imran Khan, orders ML inquiry

ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Thursday that the federal government has decided to file a disqualification reference against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan after the verdict of the prohibited funding case, ARY News reported.

Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb conducted a press conference post-federal cabinet meeting held under the chair of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif today.

She said that the federal cabinet approved the recommendation to file a disqualification reference against PTI Chief and former prime minister Imran Khan and ordered the money laundering inquiry into fake bank accounts used by the political party.

“The federal cabinet has thoroughly reviewed the verdict of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) [on the prohibited funding case] against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). The ECP issued its verdict under the Political Parties Act 2022. The [prohibited funding] case against PTI has no connection with Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) or the incumbent government.”

READ: PDM FILES REFERENCE WITH ECP, SEEKS IMRAN KHAN’S DISQUALIFICATION

“Akbar S Babar had filed the petition to the election commission. On Babar’s petition, the commission issued its verdict after eight years. The law minister gave a detailed briefing on the ECP verdict to the cabinet members.”

She said that PTI was declared a ‘foreign-funded party’ in light of the ECP verdict. “The government is bound to send a declaration to the Supreme Court (SC) following the ECP verdict. The declaration will be presented before the federal cabinet for its approval to send it to the SC after Ashura.”

The information minister said that the cabinet ordered the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to launch a money laundering inquiry into the ‘fake bank accounts’ of the PTI.

She said, “PTI used overall 16 bank accounts that were not found on the records.” She alleged that PTI used donations to the charity as party funds and an inquiry will be conducted into it.

READ: PDM DECIDES TO PUT IMRAN KHAN ON ECL

She detailed that the inquiry committee will be comprised of FIA and representatives of all banks. “For the first time in Pakistan, a political party is declared a foreign-funded party. The accounts of the PTI secretariat employees were used for foreign funding.”

Marriyum Aurangzeb alleged that Imran Khan submitted ‘fake affidavit’ to the ECP for five times. The FIA will investigate the expenditure of the funds in the coming days. The law ministry was given three days by the cabinet members to prepare the draft declaration which will be sent to the top court.

Marriyum Aurangzeb said that the cabinet members prayed for the martyrs of the military helicopter crash incident.

She said that the cabinet praised Mufti Abdul Shakoor for making best arrangements for Hajj this year.

Flood-hit areas

The information minister said that PM Shehbaz Sharif was visiting the flood-hit areas by himself and he paid a visit to the affected areas in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. The premier directed the administration to immediately take steps for the rehabilitation of the flood affectees.

“Rs500,000 each will be disbursed by the Centre for the construction of houses of the flood affectees. The government is taking steps for ensuring the availability of funds for the rehabilitation of the flood-hit areas.”

The cabinet directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) along with the provincial government to complete the estimation of the losses.

“A committee is constituted under the supervision of Finance Minister Miftah Ismail for the provision of the funds. Moreover, PM Sharif directs to disburse Rs1 million each to the relatives of the deceased persons,” said Aurangzeb.