ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday rejected the appeal to keep the report of its scrutinty committee on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) foreign funding case secret, while directing authorities concerned to make it public,

The electoral watchdog's scrutiny committee had compiled a damning report which confirmed that the PTI received funding from foreign nationals and companies, under-reported funds and concealed dozens of its bank accounts.

Later, it emerged that the report did not include eight volumes of the documents and bank statements requisitioned through the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

The crucial pieces of evidence were kept confidential at the committee’s own request.

“The committee is of the considered opinion that the portions of the report which have been prepared on the basis of [PTI] bank statements obtained through the SBP may be kept confidential and classified and may not be released in the public domain,” it said.

But, during the proceedings, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja expressed shock over such a request and observed that the report has already become a public document.

The ECP further ordered the scrutiny committee formed for Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) funding to submit its report in 10 days.

The committee had submitted its report to the commission last month, around six months after the last deadline given to it by the ECP in September last year.

The foreign funding case against PTI continues to linger before the ECP since November 2014 when it was filed by the party’s founding member Akbar S Babar.

Babar alleged serious financial irregularities in the ruling party’s accounts including illegal sources of funding, concealment of bank accounts in the country and abroad, money laundering, and using private bank accounts of PTI employees as a front to receive illegal donations from the Middle East.