ISLAMABAD: Following the ‘final warning’ by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Monday finally submitted details of its accounts and the foreign funding received during the last seven years to the commission. After continued defiance of its repeated orders, the ECP had last week given ‘final opportunity’ to the PTI to submit financial documents and details of the funds received from abroad as well as party’s accounts by September 18. The PTI on Monday submitted the required documents in five sealed envelopes. PTI’s counsel Faisal Chaudhry, however, requested the five-member ECP bench, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Justice (r) Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan, to not provide details of its accounts to the petitioner, Akbar S Babar – a disgruntled former founding member of the party. The bench noted that according to a Lahore High Court verdict, the details of assets should be published online and directed the PTI counsel to get the financial documents verified from officials concerned. To a bench’s query whether the financial records were the same as submitted in the Supreme Court, the counsel said there were some additional documents as well. The bench grilled another counsel of the PTI, Saqlain Haider, when he sought a receipt of the documents he submitted. The bench said it was the responsibility of the PTI to submit this record, and not the ECP. “The members of the bench are not middlemen,” Sardar Raza Khan said and asked the other PTI counsel, Faisal Chaudhry, to apologise to the bench, saying that seeking receipt of submitting documents was the worst joke. “No receipt will be issued,” the CEC said, prompting the other PTI counsel, Faisal Chaudhry, to apologise to the bench. Petitioner Akbar S Baber’s counsel said that Supreme Court had made public the details of party funds. Upon this, PTI counsel Faisal Chaudhry said that Islamabad High Court had directed not to give details of party’s accounts to anyone. Later, the hearing was adjourned until October 16. During hearing of the foreign funding case against PTI last week, the ECP bench had made it clear that if the party remains failed to submit its financial details till Sep 18, the case would be proceeded as ex-parte. Published in Daily Times, September 19th 2017.