ISLAMABAD: Imran Khan, the founder of the Pakistan Tea Party, petitioned the Supreme Court on Wednesday to establish a judicial commission to carry out a comprehensive audit. The commission would look into the conduct of the general elections on February 8 and the events that followed, including the compilation of results that he described as “false” and “fraudulent,” turning winners into losers and losers into winners.
The plea, jointly submitted by Mr. Khan and his PTI, was moved by senior counsel Hamid Khan. It said that Supreme Court judges with no personal prejudice should make up the committee.
Additionally, until the judicial commission’s conclusions are made public, the petition has demanded the immediate suspension of all subsequent acts that create the governments of Punjab and the nation as a whole.
Respondents cited in the petition include the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the PML-N, the PPP, the MQM-P, and the federal government through the law ministry.
The petition expressed dissatisfaction that, in line with Articles 51 and 106 of the Constitution, a political party having elected members in the national and provincial assemblies cannot be denied reserved seats in these assemblies in proportion to the elected members.
A judicial commission that was established in 2015 to look into PTI’s claims of election tampering found that the polls were, for the most part, well-organized, fairly conducted, and compliant with the law.
After months of back-and-forth between the PTI and the PML-N, during which it had recorded the testimony of 69 witnesses, including politicians, law enforcement and other government officials, and journalists, that commission was established by presidential edict on April 3, 2015.
Now, in the new petition, PTI emphasized that Pakistani courts cannot ignore the purportedly clear-cut and apparent acts of oppression, brutality, high-handedness, suppression, and violation of fundamental rights committed by the caretaker government and the “illegitimately” installed federal and provincial governments.
The petition claimed that the Supreme Court could not look the other way while fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution are violated.
In order to support the political parties in power, the petition argued that there was more than enough evidence, including video clips, media reports, and press statements from both local and international media, to order a judicial investigation into the alleged electoral fraud by ECP.
It alleges that results from hundreds of seats were collated and announced directly beneath the chief election commissioner’s nose, having allegedly been altered by manipulation and coercion, as well as in cooperation with law enforcement agencies, police officers, and caretaker governments.
The petition claimed that Form 45, which served as the foundation for the consolidation of results as mandated by law and the constitution, was not utilised by the returning officer in a number of seats, and that instead, Form 47 was issued in the most suspicious manner.
