ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has cautioned the Election Commission of Pakistan that it will be taken to court if it fails to provide complete record of the printing of ballot papers used in the 2013 general elections.

The party’s Secretary General Jahangir Tareen sent a letter to Chief Election Commissioner retired Justice Sardar Mohammad Raza on Monday, complaining that information about the printing of ballot papers which the PTI had sought in November last year was yet to be provided.

The letter was written a day after Imran Khan announced that his party would now focus on development work in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, instead of resuming the protest sit-in against alleged poll rigging.

The letter, a copy of which was released to the media by the PTI’s Central Secretariat, says the party reserves “the right to initiate appropriate legal proceedings before the honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan under Article 184(3) of the Constitution or before any honourable high court under Article 199(2) of the Constitution for enforcement of fundamental rights”.

Mr Tareen said the PTI had written a letter to the ECP on Nov 25 last year and sought “copies of the orders placed, billing details and payments made by the ECP (or any other body) to the Printing Corporation of Pakistan, Security Printing Press of Pakistan, Postal Foundation Press and any other press which was employed for printing of ballot papers for the 2013 general elections”.

The letter says PTI representative Barrister Salman Afridi made several visits to the ECP office, but “unfortunately and to our dismay, to date the required record has not been furnished nor have we received any formal communication or response to our application”.

Mr Tareen says that under Article 19(A) of the Constitution, “right to information” is a fundamental right and every citizen has the fundamental right to have access to information in all matters of public importance. Even otherwise, the ECP is bound to provide information and official record of the elections.

“The fact that the ECP has failed to even process our application is, therefore, a contravention of the fundamental rights of the citizens of Pakistan under Article 19A besides being a failure to comply with its statutory obligations under the Freedom of Information Ordinance 2000,” the PTI secretary general said.

Meanwhile, PTI dissident Akbar Babar told Dawn that the ECP had decided to hear his case about alleged irregularities and corruption in party funds.

Mr Babar said that he, along with his counsel, appeared before the ECP full bench headed by the CEC on Monday for a preliminary hearing devoted to legal arguments about the admissibility and jurisdiction of the commission.

He said the ECP had ordered the PTI leadership to appear before it on Feb 23.

Published in Dawn January 20th , 2015

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