ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has presented to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) its standard audit report regarding funding to the former ruling party by the overseas Pakistanis, alleging that the Scrutiny Committee that investigated the PTI finances in the Foreign Funding Case resorted to a lopsided approach and overlooked this report.

In this context, a PTI’s financial expert shared the report on Wednesday with the three-member ECP bench that heard Foreign Funding case.

Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja heads the bench comprising Nisar Ahmed Durrani and Shah Muhammad Jatoi that hears Foreign Funding Case.

During the proceedings, the PTI financial expert said the Scrutiny Committee that investigated PTI’s finances in the Foreign Funding Case adopted a one-sided approach by completely ignoring the standard audit report.

There are only a handful of PTI accounts in which big amounts of funds were credited, the rest of the PTI accounts are maintaining smaller amounts, he maintained.

“How scrutiny committee worked; what was its criterion and mechanism was not known to us. There were no specific criteria or laid down procedure. It would have been much better had the Scrutiny Committee raised questions regarding PTI’s accounts, which we would have gladly responded to, instead of adopting a completely one-sided approach. The Scrutiny Committee needed a thorough research for this purpose,” he remarked.

Upon this, the CEC asked the expert not to repeat the issues that were already discussed in the case. “You need to focus on the facts—the statistical data. Don’t get into the aspects that have already been taken up,” he said.

Former attorney general for Pakistan and PTI counsel Anwar Mansoor Khan said he would focus on the statistical data in his arguments before the bench on Thursday (today).

The case was adjourned till today.

Separately, the CEC chaired an ECP meeting to review the constituencies’ delimitation drive for general elections.

The meeting was informed that the delimitation committees would present initial delimitation reports regarding National Assembly and provincial assemblies’ maps on the coming May 25.

Initial delimitation would be done in 30 days—from May 29 to June 28, the meeting was informed. Objections and suggestions on delimitation in the constituencies can be submitted in the ECP within these 30 days.

The ECP will decide on the objections/suggestions related to the delimitation of constituencies from July 1 to July 30. The final delimited constituencies for the five legislatures would be notified in the second week of August, the meeting learnt.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022