ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has given the Election Commission 15 days to submit a response to a petition filed by the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) over alleged electoral rigging in the May 2013 general elections.
A three-member bench of the apex court chaired by Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jilani was hearing the case here on Thursday.
PTI chief Imran Khan had recently again levelled serious allegations against the former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and had also asked the present chief justice of Pakistan to take suo motu notice of the issue of polls rigging.
Counsel for the PTI, Hamid Khan, said in his arguments today that no action had yet been taken on the court’s previous decision over electoral reforms.
Khan said that the 15 day period given by the apex court to the election commission was unnecessary, and stressed that the next hearing should be conducted as soon as possible to speed up the matter.
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The chief justice responded by telling Khan to act with patience and to wait for the ECP’s response in order to proceed with the case.
Speaking to reporters after the hearing, the PTI chief said that he wants the next general elections to be free, fair and transparent.
Khan opposed the idea of mid-term elections, but an ally of the PTI, Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed said that if the allegations of electoral rigging can be proved then polls should be re-held throughout the country.