ECP to announce verdict in PTI foreign funding case

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is set to announce the much-awaited verdict in the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ‘prohibited’ funding case today.

According to the statement, the verdict in the PTI prohibited funding case will be issued at 10:00 AM. Strict security measures have been deployed outside the ECP head office before the verdict.

A three-layered circle of law enforcement personnel has been deployed at the election commission. Police have taken control over the first layer while Rangers personnel have been deployed inside the building.

All roads leading to ECP head office have also been sealed while security is at high alert. Police have also closed major roads in the Red Zone heading towards the ECP’s office. The commission had written a letter to the Interior Ministry seeking foolproof security ahead of the verdict.

A three-member bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja, and ECP members Nisar Ahmed Durrani and Shah Muhammad Jatoi are presiding over the hearing to review the case.

The development comes days after the ruling alliance, comprising members of the PML-N, PPP, and MQM-P visited the ECP and urged the CEC to announce the verdict in the case.

It is pertinent to mention here that the ECP had reserved on June 21 its verdict in the case which had been heard by the electoral watchdog since November 2014.

PTI founding member and former information secretary Akbar S. Babar had filed the case in the ECP in November 2014, alleging financial irregularities in PTI’s foreign funding and that it received funds from prohibited sources. However, the PTI has rejected the charges as baseless and unfounded.

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