Pak EC to hear foreign funding case related to Imran Khan's party daily

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday said it will hear Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) foreign funding case every day, local media reported.

Pakistan High Court on Thursday had asked the ECP to decide on the foreign funding case filed against former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) within a month, Express Tribune reported.

Justice Kayani, who had delivered the judgment, said that if PTI received the funding from any prohibited sources then it would affect its status, including that of chairman Imran Khan so it becomes important to dig out the truth.

The foreign funding case is pending since November 14, 2014, and it was filed by PTI founding member Akbar S Babar who had alleged that there are some financial irregularities in the PTI's funding from Pakistan and abroad.

On January 4 this year, the ECP's scrutiny committee submitted its report on the PTI's foreign funding case after 95 hearings. The ECP's committee was formed in March 2018.

The report was based on eight volumes of records collected through the State Bank of Pakistan and said that the PTI leaders had "committed the violations of funding laws" by allowing the collection of millions of dollars and billions of Pakistani Rupees without any source and details from foreigners, according to a Dawn report.

Justice Kayani also rejected the request to prevent giving access to case records to PTI's Babar and a request to remove him from the case proceedings.

This comes after PTI filed the petition in Islamabad High Court, challenging the ECP's decision of rejecting the above-mentioned plea of the party which was filed on January 25 and 31.