The Supreme Court's constitutional bench, headed by Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, granted the counsel of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan time to prepare against registrar office objections.
The six-member bench also directed arguments on both objections and merits at the next hearing, which has been adjourned indefinitely, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Monday.
During the hearing, Justice Jamal Mandokhail remarked that investigating alleged election rigging is the government's responsibility, stating, "Form 45 or Form 47—one of them must be accurate."
He questioned whether it was feasible for the court to conduct inquiries for all constituencies, adding, "This is a task for the government; was the entire election flawed from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Balochistan?"
Justice Mandokhail advised the petitioner’s counsel to approach the relevant forums if they believed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was biased.
He emphasised that discrepancies between Form 45 and Form 47 require a comprehensive inquiry and reiterated the court’s limitations under Article 184.
PTI’s counsel Hamid Khan argued, "I am here to address objections, but you are discussing merits. What happened on February 8 continues to impact us today."
In response, Justice Mandokhail reminded the senior lawyer to choose words carefully and reiterated the court’s stance on adhering to its jurisdiction.
Earlier, the hearing of PTI leader Sher Afzal Marwat’s petition against the ECP was also postponed indefinitely following a late notice of hearing. Justice Mandokhail assured the counsel of sufficient time for preparation before the next hearing.
The PTI’s petition demands a judicial inquiry into alleged election rigging and seeks suspension of all government formation actions at federal and Punjab levels until the judicial commission's findings are published.
It also highlighted violations of Articles 51 and 106, depriving the party of proportional reserved seats in the National Assembly and all four provincial assemblies.
Last month, on December 12, the constitutional bench had ordered the scheduling of Sher Afzal Marwat’s application for hearing after the holidays.
The PTI's petition, seeking a judicial inquiry into alleged election rigging, also requested the suspension of all actions related to forming governments at the federal and Punjab levels until the findings of the judicial commission were made public.
The petition emphasised that depriving a political party with elected members in national and provincial assemblies of their proportional reserved seats is a violation of Article 51 and Article 106 of the Constitution.
Reporter: Amanat Gishkori