ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday directed authorities to make public the entire report of the scrutiny committee constituted to audit the foreign funds of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
The electoral watchdog’s scrutiny committee had compiled a damning report which confirmed that the PTI received funding from foreign nationals and companies, under-reported funds and concealed dozens of its bank accounts.
It emerged later that the report did not include eight volumes of the documents and bank statements requisitioned through the State Bank of Pakistan. The documents concealed by the committee included all original 28 bank statements and year-wise details of foreign funds transferred to the PTI’s accounts.
The crucial pieces of evidence were kept confidential as per the committee’s own desires expressed on page 83 of its report. However, during today’s hearing, CEC Sikander Sultan Raja directed that no segment of the report should be kept confidential.
He made the remarks after the Ahmed Hassan, counsel of PTI founding member Akbar S. Babar, pointed out that some segments of the report had been kept secret and his client had been denied access to them.
Responding to the concerns raised by the petitioner, the ECP chief also sought a reply from the PTI’s counsel on Feb 1 and adjourned the hearing.
Later, while speaking to media, Minister of State for Information Farrukh Habib said that the allegations that the party had received funding from India and Israel had “not been proven”. He demanded that those who hurled the “baseless allegations” should tender an apology.
