SC disposes of petition seeking annulment of Feb 8 polls

The Supreme Court (SC) disposed of the petition seeking re-election and annulment of the February 8 polls on Wednesday.

The SC also imposed a fine of Rs500,000 on the petitioner over his failure to appear before the court.

As reported, the petitioner left the country after applying to the court

A three-member SC bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, comprising Justice Musarrat Hilali and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, took up the petition filed by Brig (retd) Ali Khan for hearing.

The petition urged the apex court to annul the polls and order re-elections over alleged rigging.

The CJP inquired about the identity of the petitioner. To this, the court was informed that the applicant was a former military officer who was court-martialed in 2012.

“The state should ensure that a court-martialed person does not use the rank of brigadier,” the SC remarked.

The additional attorney general informed the court about the disappeared petitioner saying that not only was the police sent to Brig (retd) Ali Khan’s house but the Ministry of Defence also had sent a notice — which then was displayed on the gate as the petitioner was unavailable.

“Look at this petitioner [who] left the country after applying to the court,” the chief justice said while commenting on the former military officer’s email regarding him being out of the country.

“I have never seen this before,” CJP Isa remarked while questioning if it was a conspiracy that the petitioner fled the country after moving the apex court.

Meanwhile, Justice Mazhar underscored that as per the petitioner himself, he neither spoke to any media outlet nor filed the application.