ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) main demands were met on Monday after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) relaxed the 30-day deadline set to decide the foreign funding case and asked the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to carry out scrutiny of all political parties without any discrimination.

An IHC division bench, comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Babar Sattar, were hearing the PTI’s appeal against the April 1 order of the single-member bench which said the foreign funding case should be disposed of within 30 days. The division bench also heard a petition filed by the PTI, seeking treatment on a par with other political parties.

The counsel for the appellant, PTI secretary general Asad Umar, argued that the petitioner had not been treated fairly and that it had been singled out. He contended that the Political Parties Order 2002, read with Article 17(3) of the Constitution, contemplated that all political parties were to be treated equally and fairly.

He stressed that the ECP was a creation of the Constitution and, therefore, its proceedings were to be regulated without interference by the court.

Court asks ECP not to ‘single out’ PTI, probe funds of all parties

The counsel further said the direction given by the single judge in chambers, to decide the matter within 30 days, was not in consonance with the constitutional mandate.

Following the arguments, the court ruled that “operation of the direction given by the learned single judge in chambers to conclude the pending matter within 30 days is hereby suspended”.

Besides, the court asked the ECP not to single out the PTI. According to the order, “The Election Commission of Pakistan will ensure that an uneven playing field is not created by treating the political parties differently.”

The IHC also asked the commission to scrutinise the funds of all political parties likewise. “We expect the Election Commission of Pakistan to proceed with the scrutiny process by treating all political parties equally and in accordance with law,” the order stated.

During the course of the hearing, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah observed that the Election Commission was under obligation to examine funding of political parties and the law empowered the commission to seize funding procured through prohibited sources.

The PTI, in its appeal, sought a directive by the court that the sources of foreign funding be kept confidential.

It expressed reservations over the remarks of the single-member bench, comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, that “if any of the party funding has been received through prohibited sources, it will affect the status of such political party, including its chairman. Therefore, it is necessary to dig out the truth.”

According to the appeal, these observations were not warranted as the “judge was not mandated to use such harsh language to the utter disadvantage of the appellant”.

The petition filed by the party’s additional secretary general, Amir Mehmood Kiani, sought audit of 17 political parties, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Pakistan Peoples Party, Jamaat-i-Islami, Awami National Party, Rah-i-Haq Party, Pakistan Muslim League, Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan, PTI, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Awami Muslim League, Balochistan Awami Party, Balochistan National Party, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, Hazara Democratic Party and Jamhoori Watan Party.

It stated that the commission was conducting scrutiny of only one party and that too on a day-to-day basis.

The petition termed this a discrimination as there was no accountability of other political parties.

It therefore requested the court to direct the ECP to get information from the State Bank of Pakistan about the source of funds of other political parties and then proceed against them on a daily basis.

It also urged the court to direct the Election Commission not to conduct discriminatory proceedings against one political party only, adding that the commission had been asked time and again to verify the funding sources of the PML-N and PPP but it had turned a deaf ear to the request.

The petition termed the ECP’s refusal to conduct scrutiny of other political parties a violation of Supreme Court’s orders.

On March 15, the ECP had dismissed the PTI’s two applications seeking to exclude their disgruntled founding member, Akbar S. Babar who had filed the petition, from the case.

The PTI had also called on the ECP not to share records of the case, including the documents requisitioned through the State Bank, with Mr Babar.

The party said the ECP had “failed to appreciate the real issue in the matter, which was contained in the report of the Scrutiny Committee,” adding that there were three parts of the report.

The foreign funding case, which has been pending since Nov 14, 2014, was filed by PTI’s founding member Akbar S. Babar who had alleged that there were some financial irregularities in the party’s funding from Pakistan and abroad.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2022