Former prime minister Imran Khan has paid a fine of Rs200000 to the Election Commission of Pakistan, reported 24NewsHD TV channel Friday.
The move came after the office of the provincial election commissioner in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has asked returning officers in different districts to ensure the recovery of unpaid fines from political leaders, including former premier Imran Khan, who owed Rs200,000 to the electoral watchdog, during the scrutiny of their nomination papers for Feb 8 elections.
According to a letter to returning officers dated Dec 28 issued by the provincial election commissioner it is disclosed that a total of 62 political figures from KP and Punjab are indebted to the ECP with fines ranging from Rs5,000 to Rs50,000. The fines are contingent on the severity of the committed violations.
As per the letter, Imran allegedly committed four separate violations, and each time, he received a fine of Rs50,000, which he has yet to pay. Imran held rallies in Makand, Swat, Lower Dir and Peshawar as Prime Minister. All these violations occurred in March 2022, just a month before his ouster through a parliamentary vote.
In the ECP’s list, the largest outstanding amount was attributed to Imran, with a total of Rs200,000 owed. Following him is the former chief minister of KP, Mahmood Khan, who has a fine of Rs150,000 for three violations, and ex-federal minister Murad Saeed with Rs100,000 for two violations.
Among other notable figures on the list are PTI’s Azam Khan Swati, Taimur Saleem Jhagra, Kamran Bangash, Shaukat Ali Yousafzai, and JUI-P’s Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, each having outstanding amounts of Rs50,000 owed to the ECP.
According to the election schedule, the last date to scrutinise their nomination papers would be Dec 30. The process had started on Dec 24.
Reporter: Usman Khan