ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar has said that all political parties were bound to declare their sources of funding, a private TV channel reported on Monday.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Faisal Arab has been hearing a petition by PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi seeking disqualification of PTI Chairman Imran Khan and General Secretary Jahangir Tareen.
As the hearing began, Abbasi filed a miscellaneous application in the court, claiming that the PTI had not denied getting funds from foreigners and foreign companies. He claimed that the list of donors filed in the court was fake. PTI’s counsel Anwar Mansoor claimed that the Election Commission of Pakistan had no right to audit funding of a political party after they have been audited by a chartered accountancy firm. He said the law has no provision for the ECP to inquire into a party’s funds once its details have been submitted to it.
The CJP observed that all political parties of the country were bound to declare their sources of funding. “Is ECP not authorized to even conduct scrutiny?” he inquired.
Anwar Mansoor said why only PTI’s funding issue has been raised. He said all details of funding filed by PTI were as per the law otherwise it would had been rejected by the ECP. The CJP said the ECP can also take action against other political parties if someone files a complaint against them. Imran Khan has already filed all banking documents detailing the money trail required by the Supreme Court in the case. The documents show banking records regarding the payments of Khan’s London flat and from Sussex County Cricket Club.
Published in Daily Times, August 1st , 2017.
