PTI foreign funding case

PTI foreign funding case
Court	Election Commission of Pakistan
Decided	August 2, 2022
Verdict	Proven
Defendant	Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
Plaintiff	Akbar S. Babar

The PTI foreign funding case is a case against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf where it obtained funds from Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan,^[1] overseas Pakistanis and their companies. One of those overseas Pakistanis being the well known Pakistani Businessman Arif Naqvi who according to the Wall Street Journal had also provided funds to Nawaz Sharif and his colleagues.^[2][3][4] Islamabad High Court in its detailed judgement on 5 April 2023 pronounced not enough documentary evidence existed to implicate Imran Khan in the case.

Background

Akbar S. Babar, a former member of PTI had filed a petition in the Election Commission in 2014 against irregularities in party funds, on which the ECP's scrutiny committee held 96 hearings in the court. Babar had alleged that millions of dollars had been transferred to PTI bank accounts through two offshore companies and that the PTI had kept these bank accounts secret from the Election Commission.^[5][6][7]

Election Commission Scrutiny Committee report

According to the 225-page report of the scrutiny committee set up by the Election Commission of Pakistan, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) disclosed 12 bank accounts in the Election Commission while keeping 53 accounts hidden. Besides, donations of more than Rs 31 crore have not been disclosed to the Election Commission. The PTI has shown only 12 bank accounts out of 77, while New Zealand and Canada accounts have not been accessed.^[8][9]

The report states that in 2008 and 2009, 2012 and 2013, the PTI made donations of Rs 1.33 billion to the Election Commission of Pakistan. The ECP was allegedly given incorrect information regarding the donations as the State Bank of Pakistan statement showed that PTI received donations of Rs 1.64 billion out of which Rs 31 crore were concealed.^[10][11]

Verdict

On 2 August, 2022, the Election Commission of Pakistan said in its decision that the allegations of taking prohibited funds from overseas Pakistanis against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan have been proved. The Election Commission has issued a show-cause notice to PTI as to why these funds should not be confiscated and at the same time has announced to send the matter to the federal government. Tehreek-e-Insaf has announced to challenge this decision in court.^[12][13]

Criticism

Imran Khan reacted to the judgement by saying that the funds were collected in 2012 by overseas Pakistanis and said that the law which prohibits funding was made in 2017 and that there is no law which bans funding from overseas Pakistanis.^[14]

Following the judgement, an overseas Pakistani Beenish Faridi who donated to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, took the Election Commission of Pakistan to court for declaring her a non-Pakistani and her funding as foreign.^[15]

References

1. "Ex-ISI DG sends defamation notice to former PML-N MPA". August 2022.
2. "Abraaj founder sought to buy influence with Sharifs, says WSJ". 18 October 2018.
3. "ECP lists foreign funding case as 'prohibited funding'". 16 June 2022.
4. Khan, Syed Irfan Raza | Iftikhar A. (January 5, 2022). "PTI tried to keep lid on foreign accounts, reveals ECP". DAWN.COM.
5. "Foreign funding case: Imran Khan's 'friend' offered to make me chairman Senate, says Akbar S Babar". www.thenews.com.pk.
6. "PTI received prohibited funding from 12 countries, claims Akbar S. Babar". Dunya News.
7. "Babar issues report on PTI foreign funding". 13 July 2021.
8. Khan, Iftikhar A. (January 19, 2022). "ECP declassifies key documents in PTI foreign funding case". DAWN.COM.
9. "PTI foreign funding: Millions of dollars transactions not shared with ECP". www.thenews.com.pk.
10. "PTI foreign funding case: Source of $0.43m transactions remains unexplained". www.thenews.com.pk.
11. Khan, Iftikhar A. (March 1, 2022). "Bank delayed revealing PTI's foreign donations until 2018 polls". DAWN.COM.
12. Desk, Web (August 2, 2022). "Prohibited funding proved in PTI case, says petitioner counsel". ARY NEWS. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
13. "7 years: A timeline of the convoluted saga that is the PTI's prohibited funding case". DAWN.COM. August 2, 2022.
14. "PTI collected money in 2012 while law prohibiting this action was formulated in 2017: Imran Khan".
15. "Overseas Pakistani moves LHC for being declared 'non-Pakistani'". 9 September 2022.