Islamabad (Staff Report/Agencies): The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has rejected four petitions filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) seeking secrecy during the scrutiny of its foreign funding sources.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sardar Mohammad Raza on Thursday rejected the pleas, directing the scrutiny committee to continue its work. The commission also instructed PTI representatives to appear before the committee on Oct 14.
The PTI’s founding member had filed the case in 2014, alleging that nearly $3 million in illegal foreign funds were collected through two offshore companies and that money was sent through illegal 'hundi' channels from the Middle East to accounts of 'PTI employees'.
The petitioner had also alleged that the foreign accounts used to collect funds were concealed from the annual audit reports submitted to the ECP.
The ECP commenced hearing on the petitions and formed a scrutiny committee in 2018 to investigate PTI’s foreign funding at the request of Akbar S Babar.