Pak SC to hear Imran Khan's pleas on poll rigging, May 9 violence

Pakistan's Supreme Court will take up on Friday petitions filed by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan seeking a judicial probe into the May 9 violence and alleged rigging of last year's general elections, according to media reports on Tuesday.

A five-member constitutional bench of the apex court led by Justice Aminuddin Khan will conduct the hearing, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

Khan's petition for the May 9 investigation was filed in December last year.

On May 9, 2023, violent protests erupted after Khan's arrest by paramilitary Rangers from the premises of the Islamabad High Court. His party workers vandalised a dozen military installations, including the Jinnah House (Lahore Corps Commander house) and the ISI building in Faisalabad.

The PTI leadership alleges that May 9 was planned by its opponents. Khan had said he was implicated in the cases related to the violence as a result of a well-orchestrated plan to harass him for political reasons.

In March 2024, Khan filed a petition in the Supreme Court requesting the formation of a judicial commission to "inquire, audit and examine" the manner and process of the February 8 general elections held in the country, Geo News reported.

Khan's PTI claims it had won the general elections held on February 8, 2024, but was robbed of its mandate through massive rigging, an allegation rejected by the government and the election officials.

Khan has been jailed since August 2023 after he was arrested in several cases and convicted for some of them. He is currently lodged in the high-security Adiala jail in Rawalpindi.