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ECP says PTI received ‘prohibited funds’

Published

3 years ago

August 2, 2022

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) says that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) received ‘prohibited foreign funding’ for the party.

The chief election commissioner, Sikandar Sultan Raha, while announcing the long-awaited decision on Tuesday, said it was a unanimous decision. The PTI received prohibited funds, donations from 34 foreign countries were taken in fundraising campaigns. The funds were received from United States of America (USA), Australia, and UAE. The funds from USA businessmen, 13 unknown accounts have also come to light.

The decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan in the PTI prohibited funding case was announced after 8 years by a 3-member bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja.

In 2014, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder member Akbar S. Babar filed a case of prohibited funding of PTI in the ECP.

What is prohibited funding case?

During the 8-year-long hearing, PTI sought adjournment 30 times and filed 6 pleas challenging the jurisdiction of the ECP or declaring the case inadmissible.

In the case, PTI changed 9 lawyers, during the hearing, Election Commission directed PTI, 21 times to provide documents and financial records.

Election Commission set up Scrutiny Committee in 2018 to check PTI funding, which held 95 meetings.

PTI filed 4 petitions against the petitioner’s presence in the committee while the Scrutiny Committee issued orders 20 times asking PTI to provide relevant documents.

The Election Commission rejected the Scrutiny Committee’s report as incomplete in August 2020, after which the final report was submitted in January 2022.

The Scrutiny Committee constituted by the Election Commission kept secret the eight volumes obtained by the State Bank related to the PTI Bank statement and handed over the eight volumes to Akbar S. Babar on the instructions of the Election Commission.

The report stated that an amount of Rs 31 crore was not disclosed in the PTI documents, which were transferred from European and Middle Eastern countries as well as the US, Canada, UK, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Netherlands and Finland. Funds were received from other countries as well.

The Scrutiny Committee gave a questionnaire to the PTI regarding the details of funding from the US and other countries, but there was no clear answer and the party did not give access to the foreign accounts.

According to the report, PTI did not disclose the accounts of MCB, Bank of Punjab and Bank of Khyber in the statements, while according to State Bank data, PTI has 26 bank accounts in Pakistan while they hid 14 bank accounts.

In response to the Scrutiny Committee report, PTI has disaffected 11 accounts and said that Asad Qaiser, Shah Farman, Imran Ismail, Mehmood Rasheed, Ahad Rasheed, Samar Ali Khan, Seema Zia, Najeeb Haroon, Jahangir Rehman, Khalid Masood, illegally opened in the name of late Naeem ul Haq and Zafarullah Khattak.

Related Topics:ECP ElectionCommissionofPakistan Featured ForeignFundingCase ImranKhan Pakistan Politics PPP ProhibitedFunding PTI Sindh

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x.com now redirects to Twitter

Published

2 years ago

July 28, 2023

Shehryar Ali

DUBAI: Twitter’s iconic bird logo is set to be replaced as the domain ‘X. com’ now redirects users to the micro-blogging platform. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and founder of X. com in 1999, confirmed the change in a tweet, stating that the interim X logo would go live later.

Musk’s takeover of Twitter last year was seen as an accelerant to creating X, and now he is making moves to change Twitter’s logo to an “X” symbol, indicating a significant shift in the platform’s branding. The little blue birdie that has long represented Twitter may soon become a thing of the past.

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SereneAir offers upto 100kg luggage on Dubai-Pakistan flights

Published

2 years ago

July 28, 2023

Shehryar Ali

KARACHI: SereneAir, a popular Pakistani airline, has introduced a special offer called the ‘Baggage Bonanza’ for passengers traveling on the Dubai-Lahore and Dubai-Islamabad routes. This deal is available from 22nd July to 31st July 2023.

Under this scheme, Economy Class passengers can now carry up to 70 kg of luggage, spread across a maximum of three pieces, with each piece not exceeding 32 kg. For Serene Plus passengers, the allowance is even more generous, with a baggage limit of up to 100 kg, divided into four pieces, again with each piece not exceeding 32 kg.

This fantastic offer is valid for specific flights on the Dubai-Lahore route on 22nd, 24th, 26th, 29th, and 30th July. For the Dubai-Islamabad route, it’s available on 22nd, 23rd, 26th, 28th, and 31st July. All these flights will be operated using the Airbus 330-200 aircraft.

To take advantage of this fantastic deal and to find out more details about it, passengers can visit SereneAir’s official website or contact the airline’s UAN at 111-737-363. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to enjoy extra baggage allowance during your travel!

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I am safe, says Anju who travelled to Pakistan amid wedding buzz

Published

2 years ago

July 27, 2023

Shehryar Ali

PESHAWAR: A married Indian woman recently traveled to Pakistan and released a video expressing her feelings of safety in the country amidst reports of her marriage to a man from Pakistan. According to media reports, Anju, a 34-year-old woman and mother of two, married Nasrullah, whom she had met online.

The couple reportedly tied the knot in a local court in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Upper Dir, with an official confirming the marriage. Photographs of the couple on a sightseeing trip surfaced online. Anju stated in the video that she had planned her entry into Pakistan. However, the authenticity of the photos could not be independently verified.

“I want to give this message to all that I have come here [Pakistan] legally and with planning as it was not about two days that I came here all of a sudden, and I am safe here,” she said.

Anju traveled to Pakistan on a one-month visa, and there were initial speculations about their marriage. However, Nasrullah has denied such plans, stating that Anju will return to India after her visa expires. Anju is married and has two children, and her husband was unaware of her travel plans.

The incident reflects a similar story of Seema Haider from Pakistan and Sachin Meena from India, who also crossed borders for love, facing legal consequences before being granted bail.