Islamabad: Former Pakistan PM Imran KHAN The Election Commission appears to be headed for a long legal shift following the recent decision that their Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had received millions of dollars in illicit money from abroad and hid several of its bank accounts.
This is the first time in the history of Pakistan that its Election Commission has accused a political party of unauthorized funding. The Election Commission has also issued a show-cause notice to Khan, seeking an explanation as to why the banned money of PTI should not be confiscated.
The verdict has put the cat among the pigeons. The coalition government of Khan’s arch political rivals has directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to probe PTI’s financial irregularities. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief and former PM Nawaz Sharif has directed the government to register a case against PTI. Supreme court, The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), an ally of the PML-N-led coalition, on Thursday filed a case disqualifying Khan from holding public office.
Khan and his party have been denying any wrongdoing, saying the money was not from prohibited sources. “When they (government) participated in the regime-change conspiracy, they thought our party would be destroyed,” Khan said in an interview to a private TV station on Thursday. After that, he said, he thought he would win the by-elections (recently held in Punjab), but he also lost. So now, according to Khan, he has opted for a “technical knockout”.
The funding case was filed in November 2014 by Akbar S Babar, once a close associate of Khan and a founding member of PTI. It took eight years for the Election Commission to investigate and announce its decision. Since Babur was looking after the financial affairs of PTI, he had alleged serious irregularities in the funding of PTI from Pakistan and abroad, including from Indian donors, in his petition.
Prior to the EC’s decision, the Financial Times published the report on 28 July, which claimed that the Dubai-based Abraaj Group was headed by Arif Naqvi Millions of dollars were deposited in the name of the charity and later this amount was transferred to the accounts of PTI. Currently, Naqvi is under house arrest in the UK on charges of misappropriation of funds and irregularities in his multi-billion dollar private equity firm based in Dubai. The US has demanded his extradition.
The FT report dealt a serious blow to the integrity of Khan, who is considered to be Pakistan’s biggest fundraiser. The FT report also referred to a T20 cricket tournament in 2012 at Naqvi’s private cricket ground in Oxfordshire, where participants were asked to contribute £2,500 to an undisclosed charity, but this amount was later reported to PTI. went into the accounts.
This is the first time in the history of Pakistan that its Election Commission has accused a political party of unauthorized funding. The Election Commission has also issued a show-cause notice to Khan, seeking an explanation as to why the banned money of PTI should not be confiscated.
The verdict has put the cat among the pigeons. The coalition government of Khan’s arch political rivals has directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to probe PTI’s financial irregularities. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief and former PM Nawaz Sharif has directed the government to register a case against PTI. Supreme court, The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), an ally of the PML-N-led coalition, on Thursday filed a case disqualifying Khan from holding public office.
Khan and his party have been denying any wrongdoing, saying the money was not from prohibited sources. “When they (government) participated in the regime-change conspiracy, they thought our party would be destroyed,” Khan said in an interview to a private TV station on Thursday. After that, he said, he thought he would win the by-elections (recently held in Punjab), but he also lost. So now, according to Khan, he has opted for a “technical knockout”.
The funding case was filed in November 2014 by Akbar S Babar, once a close associate of Khan and a founding member of PTI. It took eight years for the Election Commission to investigate and announce its decision. Since Babur was looking after the financial affairs of PTI, he had alleged serious irregularities in the funding of PTI from Pakistan and abroad, including from Indian donors, in his petition.
Prior to the EC’s decision, the Financial Times published the report on 28 July, which claimed that the Dubai-based Abraaj Group was headed by Arif Naqvi Millions of dollars were deposited in the name of the charity and later this amount was transferred to the accounts of PTI. Currently, Naqvi is under house arrest in the UK on charges of misappropriation of funds and irregularities in his multi-billion dollar private equity firm based in Dubai. The US has demanded his extradition.
The FT report dealt a serious blow to the integrity of Khan, who is considered to be Pakistan’s biggest fundraiser. The FT report also referred to a T20 cricket tournament in 2012 at Naqvi’s private cricket ground in Oxfordshire, where participants were asked to contribute £2,500 to an undisclosed charity, but this amount was later reported to PTI. went into the accounts.