Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday informed the Supreme Court that it had never collected funds from Indians and the allegations of PMLN leader Hanif Abbasi regarding foreign funding was baseless.

PTI counsel Anwar Mansoor submitted a 5-page reply before the court over foreign funding and its audit.

The court has been hearing the case filed by PMLN’s Abbasi seeking disqualification of PTI Chairman Imran Khan from being the member of national assembly on the grounds that Kaptaan concealed his assets and his party seeks foreign funding from prohibited sources.

However, in the reply, the PTI denied saying that the donation had never been taken from any Indians, adding that Abbasi was making baseless submissions.

“It is submitted that no donation or contribution given to PTI which is in violation of the Political Parties Order 2002. All donations send to the PTI are raised from Overseas Pakistanis only,” the reply contended.

It maintained that the agents of the PTI, collecting on behalf of the party, had provided their clear undertakings in this regard adding that anything to the contrary was denied.

“The affidavit of the Foreign Agents Registration Act representatives is on record which negates the entire issue raised,” the reply stated adding that the PMLN leader had based his assertion on the terms ‘probable’ which he himself is unclear about.

The reply further stated that Abbasi made allegations of presumptive foreign donors without any evidence.

Based on these presumptions foreign donors without any evidence and based on these presumptions without any proof has made a prayer to the top court to enter into roving enquiry, it added.

Regarding the party’s audit, the reply stated that Abbasi was relying on an alleged “Special Audit Report” which was only a Review for Internal check and recommendations which review was not an audit per se, but was tasked to the said auditor by the Chairman PTI for the purpose to create a transparency, making systems to meet the legal requirements, causing improvement of PTI as per scope of engagement given.

“It is reiterated that the same was not an Audit of the PTI. Firstly, the audit of the external auditor is the Audit that is required by law to be submitted with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and not any internal audits,” it said.

“Secondly, this review was a confidential document for internal purpose to rectify the errors in the accounting system, and was posted by Akber Sher Babar (a former member of PTI) without any authority on the PTI website,” it said adding that Sher had already approached the ECP through a complaint where the matter remained pending.

“It is pertinent to point out that the PTI had later found that Sher, who is disgruntled ex-member of PTI, had influenced one of the focal persons of the Consultant Accountants in this report in order to benefit the opposing political party,” it further said.

The reply pleaded that the internal Consultant review was inadmissible and had no nexus to the present case. Hence this application merits no consideration and is liable to be dismissed, it further read.

It is pertinent to mention here that the top court has already asked the ECP to submit its reply as to whether the Commission has jurisdiction to probe the foreign funding was generated through prohibited sources.

A three judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar will take up the matter for hearing today.