Court rejects PTI's plea challenging ECP's jurisdiction

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday has rejected Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) petition to bar the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) from hearing Akbar S Babar’s petition regarding the party’s alleged foreign funding, ARY News reported.

During the court proceeding, the bench, headed by Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, also rejected PTI’s plea to issue a stay order in the case while noting that the case has been underway since 2014 and referred back to the ECP,

Justice Kayani also ordered the ECP and the petitioner to submit their respective replies. The case was adjourned until further notice.

A petition was filed by a PTI former leader Akbar S Babar alleged that PTI Chief Imran Khan has committed contempt of court in his comments on the party funds, claiming that he had not apologized to the ECP over his comments instead his counsel did so in his personal capacity.

Moreover, Babar had claimed that funds worth $3 million were collected by PTI’s chief through illegal channels from the Middle East to accounts of PTI members.

Earlier this week, PTI had challenged the jurisdiction of the ECP in a contempt of court case against the party chairman Imran Khan.

Awan contended that Election Commission of Pakistan lacked subject-matter jurisdiction over contempt of court. He insisted that as per the constitution the Supreme Court of Pakistan and High Courts have jurisdiction to give a judgment on the matter.

Meanwhile PML-N’s Hanif Abbasi’s petition, currently being heard by the Supreme Court, seeks PTI chairman Imran Khan’s disqualification, alleging that his party acquired funds, amounting to millions of dollars, from prohibited foreign sources, including multinational corporations.