ISLAMABAD: The perusal of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) accounts restarted on Monday after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) granted three extra days on the application of the petitioner in the foreign funding case, Akbar S. Babar.

However, the ECP refused to allow perusal of original PTI bank statements on the instructions of the State Bank of Pakistan, a repeated demand of Mr Babar, who is also a founding member of the party.

Petitioner criticises decision of holding back party’s original bank statements from process

The ECP order was passed on May 25 this year. The extended perusal would continue until Wednesday.

Earlier, the perusal of PTI accounts had concluded on May 20 as per the ECP order of April 14, allowing perusal for eight days or 40 hours.

Talking to the media at the conclusion of Monday’s proceedings, Mr Babar criticised the decision of holding back original bank statements of the PTI from the perusal process.

He said revealing complete facts at this stage would only bring credibility to the scrutiny process and avoid further delays in an already delayed scrutiny process. He said there was no logic and rationale of keeping the original PTI accounts secret.

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2021