PTI’s counsel says scrutiny committee’s report in foreign funding case ‘flawed’

Counsel for the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Anwar Mansoor on Thursday asked as to what was the criterion under which the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) scrutiny committee had termed party’s funding record dubious, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

During the hearing of PTI’s foreign funding case in the ECP, he said the committee’s report had lots of flaws in it. 

A three-member bench of the ECP, headed by the chief election commissioner, is hearing PTI’s foreign funding case. 

Mansoor insisted that all PTI donors were Pakistanis. 

When ECP Member Nisar Durrani told him that all this was part of the committee’s report, he replied in affirmative and said despite that the committee wrote down in its report that it had not been confirmed that the funds were received from Pakistanis. “Sadly, the committee has based its conclusions merely on possibilities,” he regretted. 

PTI’s counsel further said that the party had hired the services of Muniff Ziauddin & Co. Chartered Accountants, which was the firm of an international repute. "Even the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) assigns it the task to conduct its audit,” he informed. 

The scrutiny committee, on the other hand, he added, did not have any accountant in it. “The committee strongly objected to one of the party accounts,” PTI’s counsel said.  

Later, the ECP adjourned hearing of the case until Tuesday.       

Reporter: Rozeena Ali