Elections 2013: Supreme Court issues judgement regarding dismissal of petitions

Supreme Court on Saturday issued a detailed judgement regarding dismissal of petitions seeking declaration of the entire elections of 2013 as null and void. The three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk and comprising Justice Amir Hani Muslim and Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry in its judgement stated that none of the petitioners filed any documents even to lay foundation for issuance of notice to the respondents.
The judgement stated that during the course of arguments, the judges brought it to the notice of the counsel of the petitioners that he had not filed any document with his petition in support of the allegations. It stated that petitioner in his constitutional petition only appended a news items of one of the national daily and in the absence of mentioning of specific authorities no direction can be given. "None of the petitioners filed any document even to lay a foundation for issuance of notice to the respondents namely the Government of Pakistan, Election Commission of Pakistan, National Database and Registration Authority and the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research."
"This deficiency too precludes us from proceeding further with these petitions," the verdict said. In the decision it was stated that the counsel for the petitioner was confronted with the maintainability of these petitions in the light of the restrictions contained in Article 225 of the Constitution on throwing a challenge to the election results other than by way of election petition before the Election Tribunal and further whether the results of the entire general elections for the national and the provincial assemblies could be annulled under any provision of the Constitution or law. "Since we were not provided with any assistance on the propositions we refrain from dilating upon them. For the above stated reasons these petitions are dismissed," the judgement said.