ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry on Wednesday claimed that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had written a letter to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) seeking details of bank accounts operated by former prime minister Imran Khan.

Speaking to reporters outside the Supreme Court, Mr Chaudhry, who was the information minister during the PTI government, claimed that there was Rs24 billion in the personal bank account of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif but his case was still cleared by the election watchdog.

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“The money collected through corruption by Shehbaz Sharif is much more than the amount collected by Imran Khan through his telethons; however, still the details of Imran Khan’s [bank] accounts have been sought by the ECP,” he claimed.

Mr Chaudhry alleged the election watchdog had become a subordinate institution of the government and questioned how the ECP could seek informa-tion concerning Imran Khan’s bank accounts after reserving the decision in the case.

The PTI leader claimed that the changes in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) were brought to close graft cases against the leaders of the coalition government.

He added there was no debate on the changes to the law in parliament. Imran Khan had also said that the government came to power to end corruption cases formed against its leaders, he claimed and added that the accountability process had apparently come to a halt in Pakistan.

He said that after the amendments to the NAB law, Nawaz Sharif’s case had been cleared and added that PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari would be the biggest beneficiary of this amendment.

He also claimed that over two million people will participate in the long march, which will be announced by the PTI chairman in the coming weeks.

Imran Khan has not given a call for the march yet; however, planning for the protest is in full swing.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2022