Govt may send reference to SC after notifying PTI as foreign funded party; Law Minister.

ISLAMABAD -- Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar on Tuesday said that the government could notify PTI as a foreign funded political party and could also forward a reference to the Supreme Court.

Addressing a press conference along with Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, the law minister said that the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, the Ministry of Law and Justice and the Ministry of Interior would consider each word of the Election Commission's decision in detail and the law would take its course.

He said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Hanif Abbasi had filed a petition before the Supreme Court with reference to Imran Khan using prohibited funds for creating chaos and disorder in the country, on which the apex court had stated that the Election Commission of Pakistan would examine this matter.

He said that the Supreme Court had also stated that the federal government would decide to ban the party on ECP's report regarding foreign funding.

He said that the Election Commission heard the prohibited funding case with great patience and restraint as timings were fixed according to PTI's will and even the report of the Scrutiny Committee was given to them. The Election Commission had issued a detailed decision based on the reports of various national institutions of the country including the State Bank of Pakistan, he added.

The Minister said that every political party had to declare the expenses, income and sources of income to the Election Commission but PTI had detached itself from the accounts which were being used by its senior leadership. The PTI chief's money trail contradicted his narrative, he added.

He said that he had discussed with the Interior Minister in detail about the decision of the Election Commission. Under the law, political parties were allowed to carry out activities and it mentioned clearly regarding collection of funds, he added.

He said that this law had been interpreted many times in the courts that the right to participate in political activities could not be taken away from anyone, but political parties would work according to the law and would also be bound to disclose the sources of their income and expenses.

The Law Minister said that all political parties were bound to inform the ECP about their income and expenditure details at the end of every year. He said that the nation was waiting for the decision...