Judicial Commission orders opening of polling bags

ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commission probing the alleged rigging in the general elections 2013, during its in-camera meeting here on Wednesday, directed the district judges to open the polling bags and obtain copies of Form 15 from their respective districts.
After inviting opinions from the counsel representing various political parties, it was decided to obtain the copies of Form-15 from the bags retained at the treasuries on the behalf of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). All the political parties agreed that the task be assigned to the district judges of respective districts, the Judicial Commission stated in its written order.
They shall obtain the copies of Form-15, pertaining to the National Assembly and provincial assembly constituencies falling within their districts. In case a constituency is spread over more than one district, the senior district judge in the concerned district shall perform the task, the inquiry commission’s order stated.
The said judicial officers shall be duly assisted by the respective district election commissioners and its staff in the process. For the said purpose, white, Khaki and blue bags containing the election material may be opened and no other bag be touched. “Photostat copies of Form-15 for all polling stations be prepared and duly certified by the district judges,” the order added.
The forms for each constituency shall be packed in separate packets and sent to this commission. In case the Form-15 for any polling station is found missing or any seal of the afore-mentioned bags is found broken, it should be noted and reported accordingly. For the tribal areas, the said task is assigned to the respective political agents in whose territorial jurisdiction a constituency falls, who shall be duly assisted by the concerned agency’s election commissioner.The commission directed the judicial officers to complete the task by June 08, 2015.