ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) has been urged to constitute a judicial commission, consisting of serving SC judges to inquire, audit, and examine the manner and process of the general elections 2024, and the developments taking place thereafter.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its founder Imran Khan, on Wednesday, filed a petition under Article 184(3) of the Constitution citing Federation through the Ministry of Law and Justice, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP), and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) as respondents.
The petitioners prayed, “All consequential acts of the forming governments at the federal and Punjab levels be immediately suspended until the commission makes the probe public.” They demanded orders, directions, and relief be granted in the “best interest of the nation, its electoral mandate, and Constitutional dispensation”.
The petition pointed out that the elections were held after an inordinate delay and beyond the constitutionally mandated period of 90 days in the case of both the provincial and National Assembly as given in Article 223 of the Constitution.
It added that the election results were manipulated and the ECP failed to hold free and fair elections. They said that the only way to bring stability and ensure political and economic justice in Pakistan is to investigate and fix election irregularities.
It further maintained that the former ruling party was not allowed to undertake its election campaign as the party workers’ houses were raided, and nomination papers were snatched along with the ECP’s decision to take the “bat” symbol from the PTI.
The party maintained that there was abundant evidence in the form of video clips, media reports, and press statements by local and international media about the poll fraud, following which a judicial probe is demanded.
The petitioners said that the Constitution of Pakistan guarantees political justice through free, fair, and transparent elections so that the authority in Pakistan is exercised by the truly chosen representatives of Pakistan. The elections to the National and Provincial Assemblies having been openly rigged and their results having been manipulated by the respondents deny political justice to the people of Pakistan.
They maintained that the constitution cast a heavy duty upon the ECP to hold free, fair, and transparent elections in Pakistan. However, it has failed to perform its duties as enshrined in Articles 218 and 219 of the Constitution. They said that the general elections 2024 were massively rigged and manipulated through the returning officers appointed by the Commission, and all the caretaker governments were part of this fraud.
The chairman Election Commission, in violation of his oath and in complete disregard to his office, kept meeting with the State officials which undermined the whole electoral process.
The ECP chairman and its members, by taking highly controversial stand against the PTI have committed serious misconduct and violated the constitution which amounts to subversion of the constitution as they denied the PTI to form lawful governments.
They submitted that despite the fact that the review petition against the Supreme Court order dated 13-01-24 is pending; therefore, the three-member bench verdict is per incuriam inasmuch as the same was passed in complete disregard to the earlier judgments of the Supreme Court. The party was denied its constitutional rights.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024