On Tuesday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued the verdict on the funding case filed by PTI former member Akbar S. Babar in November 2014. According to the unanimous ruling by ECP, PTI has received ‘prohibited funding’ from 351 foreign companies and 34 foreign nationals. The ruling added that PTI hid 13 accounts, and the Form-1 submitted by Imran Khan for five years (2008-2013) was inaccurate. ECP issued a show cause to PTI.
The written verdict from ECP stated that PTI received $21,121,500 from Wootton Cricket Limited, a company led by known business personality Arif Naqvi. PTI was found to accept prohibited funding from Romita Shetty (Indian origin businesswoman residing in the USA), PTI USA LLC-6160, PTI USA LLC-5975, SS Marketing (UK-based firm), E-Planet Trustees ( Cayman Island-based company), Bristol Engineering Services (UAE based organisation), PTI UK Public Limited Company, PTI Canada Corporation, and Dunpec Limited (Australia based company). The Imran Khan-led party also got funding from Pakistani-based companies, including Anwar Brothers, Young Sports, and Zain Cotton.
ECP also declared that data obtained from the State Bank of Pakistan reveals that senior management of PTI operated 13 hidden accounts at the provincial and central levels. The election watchdog concluded that the matter falls under Political Parties Order 2002 (PPO), Article 6 (3). A show cause notice was issued under Rule 6 of PPO.
Farukh Habib, leader of PTI, said this is a prohibited funding case and not a foreign funding case. He added that entities that plotted the propaganda of foreign funding against PTI are disappointed, and the party would submit a sufficient response to the notice.
