ISLAMABAD   -   The Supreme Court of Pakistan Monday ex­pressed annoyance as Brig (retd) Ali Khan failed to appear for the hearing after filing the petition for annulment of the 8th February elections.

A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and com­prising Justice Muham­mad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat Hilali conducted hearing of the ex-army officer’s pe­tition, praying the court to order fresh elections within 30 days.

The Chief Justice said that the Court cannot be subjected to such mock­ery, and directed the authorities to “find and present the complain­ant before the court on next day of hearing. He stressed that the SC will hear this case.

During the proceeding, the bench directed the SC Office and the Registrar’s Office to contact the petitioner via telephone and inform him. However, the apex court staff informed the CJP that the order cannot be complied with as Ali’s cell phone was switched off. 

The CJ said, “Are these petitions filed for fame, reveal the petition before the media and then dis­appear? But, we will hear the case and produce the petitioner. The case will be heard.”

Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar then stated that the Registrar’s Office had raised objections. He added that the applications are filed all over the world, call the petitioner and talk to the con­cerned SHO, what is the case then? It is not a joke.”

The court staff again informed the bench that court officials even went to the petitioner’s residence, but did not get any response. 

The court then issued a writ­ten order, stating that the appli­cation was filed on February 12, while it appeared in electron­ic and print media before filing. It added that the Registrar’s Of­fice also raised objections to the application, but considering the importance of the case, the ap­plication was fixed for hearing with objections.

“The petitioner after gaining maximum fame by filing the pe­tition filed another application to withdraw the petition. A no­tice was sent to the residential address mentioned in the pe­tition but was not received, no one replied to our phone calls and no one appeared during the court proceedings today,” the order said.

It further stated that al­though the petitioner has the right to withdraw the peti­tion, the petitioner, howev­er, exploited the situation for his benefit by filing the with­drawal application. The court cannot allow such tactics, and therefore gives anoth­er chance to the petitioner, it added.

The court observing the pe­titioner as an ex-brigadier, ordered the concerned SHO and the Ministry of Defence to issue the notice. Later, the bench adjourned the case till Wednesday.