The Supreme Court on Wednesday adjourned hearing of a petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf seeking verification of voters' thumb impression in four constituencies till first week of April. A three-judge bench headed by Justice Mian Saqib Nisar heard the petition seeking verification of voters' thumb impressions in four constituencies, where PTI candidates lost in 2013 general elections.
Justice Saqib Nisar remarked that by March the election tribunals would hopefully resolve all the pending issues, adding that the court will take up the case in first week of April. In a reply submitted to the apex court, the federal government contended that all election-related matter have nothing to do with the government as it is the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) which is responsible to address the grievances raised by different political parties.
The government also made the ECP responsible that it is not the federal government as the ECP, a fully independent body which directly deals with election-related matters, should be directed to implement the court orders pertaining to election related matters. The one-page reply was submitted by Attorney General (AG) for Pakistan in response to apex court directives on December 02, 2014 about implementation of courts orders by government and the ECP. The ECP is yet to submit its report to the court.
The apex court had accepted a petition filed by PTI, seeking the verification of thumb impressions of votes in four constituencies, for regular hearing. The PTI chairman had filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking 'verification of thumb impressions' in NA-110, NA-122, NA-125 and NA 154. He had alleged massive fraud in the elections and called for the verification of voters' thumb impressions with the help of the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA).
National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq was elected on NA-122; Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had won from NA-110; Railway Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique had defeated PTI's Hamid Khan in NA-125 and an independent candidate Sadiq Baloch had outvoted PTI's Secretary General Jahangir Tareen in NA-154, who later joined PML-N after the elections. The hearing was adjourned till first week of April.
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