Islamabad High Court (IHC) has constituted a larger bench to hear Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) plea against the Election Commission of Pakistan’s verdict on the prohibited funding case.

Acting IHC Chief Justice Amir Farooq heard the petition of PTI against the election commission’s decision in the prohibited funding case.

PTI’s lawyer Anwar Mansoor appeared before the court. The court will hear the plea on August 18.

During today’s hearing, PTI lawyer Anwar Mansoor argued that the account information provided by PTI was not present in the decision, adding that the party had told the election commission that some account information was not necessary due to some reasons and that some of the funds from central accounts were transferred to the accounts of party’s provincial chiefs.

“As far as I can remember, after the Wali Khan case this is the first case of the kind,” JusticeFarooq remarked.

The court remarked that the issues of stay order will also be taken up by the larger bench.

PTI’s counsel pleaded with the court to bar the commission from taking any action against the PTI leaders, to which Justice Farooq said that this was why a larger bench has been constituted.

Later, the IHC constituted a larger bench and adjourned the hearing of the case till August 18.

Earlier on August 8, the PTI challenged the ECP’s decision on the prohibited funding case in the IHC requesting to declare the election commission’s proceedings illegal in the case.

In the petition, it was requested that the ECP’s show cause notice in this regard should also be annulled.

A three-member ECP bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, in a unanimous verdict, had declared that the PTI ‘knowingly and willfully’ received funding from prohibited sources, including foreign nationals.