• PTI says it is “aggrieved” by chief election commissioner’s oath.
• Party alleges he violated his oath and helped PTI’s arch-rivals.
• PTI wants him gone due to “continuous deliberate misconduct”.

ISLAMABAD: Following the Election Commission of Pakistan’s ruling that PTI received prohibited funds, the PTI moved the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) Thursday against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja for his “continuous deliberate misconduct”.

In the reference sent to the judicial commission, the PTI said: “It is humbly prayed that […] Supreme Judicial Council may graciously be pleased to remove the respondent from his office of Chief Election Commissioner on account of commission of continuous deliberate misconduct of perming his legal and constitutional duties and obligations.”

The reference mentioned that the PTI has no other “efficacious remedy” against the election commission, hence, it has invoked the constitutional jurisdiction of the JCP under Article 209 of the constitution.

“The PTI is the single largest party of Pakistan which has its elected members in all four provinces, including Gilgit-Baltistan & Azad Kashmir. Its pray for the removal of the respondent cannot be overlooked in a mechanical manner.”

The reference read that the PTI was “directly and indirectly aggrieved” against the chief election commissioner’s decisions in separate cases since he took office in 2020.

It mentioned that despite bearing the CEC’s decisions for some time, PTI’s doubt converted into a “strong belief” that Raja is leaving no stone unturned to favour PML-N and PDM.

In doing so, the chief election commissioner is damaging the PTI without any just “rhymes and reasons malafidely for ulterior motives”, the reference said.

It further stated that on July 29, a PDM delegation met the CEC and consequently on August 2, the verdict of the prohibited funding case was announced — which was against PTI.

The reference said that since the CEC had admitted to meeting the PDM delegation days before the verdict, he has violated his oath, enshrined in the third schedule of the constitution under article 214.

The reference did not end there as the PTI also alleged that the CEC helped the PTI’s “arch-rivals” in the Daska by-election, recent Punjab by-election, and other occasions.

The prohibited funding ruling

After a wait of nearly eight long years, the ECP’s three-member bench Tuesday announced the verdict on the PTI’s prohibited funding case — which was earlier referred to as the foreign funding case.

As per the 68-page order, the commission states that the Imran Khan-led PTI did indeed receive funding from foreign companies and individuals, which it hid.

The commission found that donations were taken from America, Australia, Canada and the UAE.

PTI received funds from 34 individuals and 351 businesses including companies, the ECP verdict states.

Thirteen unknown accounts have also come to light, said the commission in the verdict, adding that hiding accounts are a “violation” of Article 17 of the Constitution.

The funds were also in violation of Article 6 of the Political Parties Act.

Moreover, the ECP found that PTI Chairman Imran Khan submitted a false Nomination Form I and that the affidavit provided regarding party accounts was false.

For now, the ECP has issued a show-cause notice to the party to explain why the prohibited funds should not be confiscated.