The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has ordered scrutiny of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) audit reports submitted to the ECP annually.
A full bench of the EC headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza issued the directives on conclusion of the hearing in the case filed by a PTI founding member and former office bearer of party, Akbar S. Babar alleging financial corruption and violation of laws in handling of PTI funds.
During the hearing the PTI lawyer questioned the authenticity of the evidence presented particularly with regard to documents from the US Department of Justice that show that over $ 2.0 million was transmitted in 2 years from the US to PTI accounts in Pakistan.
The petitioner’s counsel Ahmed Hasan argued that the documents presented were authentic and can be accessed by anyone from the US Department of Justice website. He also stated that under the new law of evidence, documents downloaded from official websites can be presented as evidence in a court of law.
The PTI counsel refused to acknowledge the Special Audit Report authorized by Imran Khan in March 2013 as an ‘audit report.’ He said it was merely an investigative report. He argued that the PTI annual audit reports submitted to the Election Commission were accurate and there was no concealment of funds.
The counsel for the petitioner argued that over $ 2.0 million funds received from the US were from prohibited sources and the EC was authorized to confiscate funds received illegally. He said the entire scope of concealment and misappropriation of funds would come to light once a complete forensic audit is done of all PTI accounts.
The PTI counsel failed to submit written response to the allegations made by the petitioner and only relied on technical issues regarding admissibility of evidence presented in the court. He concluded his argument that the case should be dismissed as it is beyond the competence of the EC and the evidence presented is not admissible.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the CEC decided to scrutinize the PTI audit reports submitted annually to the ECP and adjourned hearing till April 01, 2015.
