ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) sought on Wednesday more time to produce before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) evidence to show sources of the party’s funds on the plea that it has changed its counsel.

A bench of the ECP headed by Chief Election Commissioner retired Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan fixed May 19 as the next date of hearing.

The ECP bench is hearing a case about alleged financial corruption in the PTI and violation of laws in collection of donations and management of party funds. The case has been filed by Akbar S. Babar, a founding member of the party and its former information secretary. He has accused the party of having received donations from foreigners and foreign companies.

During the last hearing, the ECP had ordered the PTI to provide evidence of its funds and their sources.

The party’s new counsel Anwar Mansoor pleaded that he wanted more time to study the case. He also filed an application to challenge the jurisdiction of the ECP to hear the application and competence of Mr Babar to file the complaint.

Talking to reporters after the hearing, Mr Babar said the PTI was employing the same delaying tactics which according to it were used by the PML-N during proceedings of election tribunals.

He said PTI chief Imran Khan claimed that proof of election rigging was in the ‘bags’ and all the judicial commission needed to do was to order opening of the ‘bags’. By the same token, he added, the evidence of the PTI’s financial bungling was in its bank accounts which the party had refused to disclose despite being ordered by the ECP in the last hearing of April 1.

He claimed that a string of emails exchanged between PTI leader Zahra Shahid and Naeemul Haq, Imran Khan’s chief of staff, was another piece of evidence about the PTI’s financial scam.

He said the emails showed that when evidence was provided to Naeemul Haq, he went berserk and shouted on phone that he was going to freeze the bank account of the party’s women wing.

“In an attempt to harass Zahra Shahid, Naeemul Haq tried to get her removed from the office of the president of Sindh women wing of the party and wanted to get her expelled from the party.”

The emails revealed another PTI account in Sindh which had not been disclosed in the party’s audit reports submitted to the ECP, Mr Babar said.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2015

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