As the Supreme Court began hearing a plea seeking the February 8 general elections to be declared void and null, petitioner Ali Khan again did not appear today.

The additional attorney general (AAG) informed the apex court that a notice had been sent to Ali’s house through the defence ministry and well police had gone there as well, but he was not present there.

When Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa asked about the identity of the petitioner, the AAG said Ali was a former brigadier who had been tried by a court martial in 2012.

The CJP noted that according to the petitioner’s email, he was abroad and had requested to withdraw his plea. Ali went to Bahrain by taking a connecting flight via Doha, Justice Isa added.

PTI leader Shaukat Basra came to the rostrum but he was not permitted to speak as he was “neither a petitioner nor a counsel”. CJP Isa then told Basra to step aside from the rostrum.

Regarding Ali, the chief justice remarked, “It is strange that the petitioner filed the plea and then went abroad the next day. Our [fixation] branch has confirmed about the email as well that it has been sent by the same person.”