SC to hear Imran’s pleas against ‘election rigging’, May 9 mayhem on Feb 28

ISLAMABAD: ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court’s constitutional bench has scheduled a hearing on petitions filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, seeking an investigation into alleged rigging in the February 8 general elections and the formation of a judicial commission to probe the May 9 incidents.

A five-member bench, headed by Justice Amin-Ud-Din Khan, will hear Imran’s pleas on February 28.

Earlier in Dec 2024, the constitutional bench admitted for regular hearing the former prime minister’s petition seeking a judicial inquiry into the May 9 incidents. The bench directed its office to fix the case after assigning a number to the instant petitions.

During the preliminary hearing, senior counsel Hamid Khan remarked that the country was witnessing an “undeclared martial law”.

Justice Jamal Mandokhail intervened to remind the counsel that he was making a sweeping statement though the civil government can seek the assistance of the army under Article 245.

Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar observed the petitioner had to challenge the vires of the constitutional authority under Article 245, adding how the petitioner could call it an undeclared martial law.

The incarcerated PTI founder had moved the Supreme Court in March 2024, requesting the formation of a judicial commission to “inquire, audit and examine” the manner and process of the February 8 general elections held in the country.

The petition, filed by senior lawyer Hamid Khan on behalf of the PTI founder, urged that the apex court form of a judicial commission — consisting of serving SC judges holding no bias towards anyone — to “inquire, audit and examine the manner and process of general elections of 8 February 2024 and the developments that took place thereafter of compiling false and fraudulent results rendering winners into losers and losers into winners”.

The PTI-backed independent candidates won the most National Assembly seats in the February 8 elections followed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

However, the PML-N with the support of the other parties including the PPP formed a coalition government in the Centre and later became the single largest party in the lower house of the parliament following the allocation of the reserved seats.

Meanwhile, the former prime minister — in another petition — prayed the apex court to appoint a judicial commission to probe into the “horrendous and terrible incidents of May 9-10 and actions leading to those unfortunate incidents, which caused loss of precious human lives of dozens of persons and damage to the state and private property.”

In the petition, he also submitted that the arrests, investigation and trial of civilians in peacetime under the Army Act 1952, read with the Official Secret Act 1923, is unconstitutional and void and of no legal effect and amounts to negation of the Constitution, rule of law and independence of the judiciary.