ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) turned over details of the assets of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri and his party to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Friday.

The ECP made the information available to the FIA a day after the agency initiated an investigation against him. The FIA has also asked the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to provide details about Dr Qadri and his party’s tax returns.

Know more: FIA to investigate Qadri's assets

This action by the FIA puts into perspective a statement issued by Information Minister Pervez Rashid on Tuesday, when he said, “Dr Qadri came to the country of his own accord, but he will leave when the law permits it.”

According to the details released by the ECP, Dr Qadri had submitted records of assets amounting to Rs9.9 million in 2004. At the time, he had Rs33,000 in his bank account and owned a house worth Rs3.3m along with a plot of land.

Information dates from 2004, when Qadri was a member of parliament

According to the information provided by Dr Qadri to the ECP in 2004, he did not own any property outside Pakistan. As per the details declared, he did not own a car at the time either.

His party’s assets, declared in 2004, amounted to Rs338,000 and the monthly income declared was Rs160,000, while monthly expenditures were estimated at Rs200,000.

“The ECP provided details of Dr Qadri’s assets to the FIA because the information had already been made public in the official gazette of 2004,” ECP spokesperson Khursheed Alam told Dawn.

He said Dr Qadri was elected to the National Assembly in the 2002 general election and that was when he submitted the details of his party’s assets to the commission. He resigned from parliament in 2004.

He and his party did not take part in the 2013 elections and therefore, the records are not up-to-date.

Published in Dawn, June 28th , 2014