Islamabad: (Web Desk): The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday approved hearing of the foreign funding case against the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on a daily basis.
According to details, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice (R) Sardar Raza gave the go-ahead for daily hearings of the case.
A two-member bench presided the hearing of a memorandum submitted by opposition and approved the request.
A copy of the application has also been forwarded to the chief election commissioner and various ECP members. Daily hearings of the case would commence from November 26.
On Wednesday, Rahbar Committee of the opposition parties submitted a memorandum to the ECP and demanded daily hearing of the case.
The document submitted by the opposition pointed out that the foreign funding case against the PTI had been pending with the ECP for the past five years.
“We urge that in the interest of justice the case may be heard on a daily basis and decided at the earliest during the term of the CEC,” the memorandum stated.
Meanwhile, the ECP has also issued notices to the counsel for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), asking them to appear before the committee on November 26.
Foreign funding cases against the PML-N and PPP had been filed by PTI lawmakers.
On October 10, the ECP rejected four petitions filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) seeking secrecy during the scrutiny of its foreign funding sources.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sardar Mohammad Raza had rejected the pleas, directing the scrutiny committee to continue its work. The commission also instructed PTI representatives to appear before the committee on October 14.
PTI’s founding member Akbar S Babar 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.