Islamabad: Pakistan's Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed all petitions demanding last year's general elections to be declared null and void, in a relief to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who is under pressure to quit after being accused of rigging the polls.
Pakistan for the first time in its history achieved peaceful democratic transition under a civilian rule though the May 2013 polls which some groups alleged were heavily rigged in favour of Prime Minister Sharif.
The apex court's decision comes amid protests led by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan. Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Khan and Canada-based cleric Tahirul Qadri had been protesting since August, demanding Sharif's resignation on the grounds that last year's general elections were rigged.
Sharif has refused to step down and while Qadri has already called off his protest, Khan is still continuing his demonstrations, demanding the Premier's resignation and fresh elections.
At least three petitions were filed in the Supreme Court by Advocate Kokab Iqbal, Zahir Sarfaraz and a former Supreme Court judge Justice (retd), Mahmood Akhter Shahid Siddiqui, demanding the polls to be declared null and void.
They had also sought legal action against the officials of the Election Commission of Pakistan for using the defective magnetic ink for thumb impression of the voters on ballot papers.
The court in its decision declared the petitions as "non-maintainable" as election tribunals were in place to address grievances related to illegalities in the elections. It also referred to Article 225 of the Constitution on election disputes which says that complaints should be resolved by the tribunals.
The decision comes as a breather to Sharif's embattled government which is under pressure in the wake of Khan's protests. In the 2013 general elections, Sharif had won by a landslide, taking 190 out of 342 seats. Khan's PTI got 34 seats, the third largest bloc in the legislature. But he claimed his party should have had many more seats.
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